tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90590863811621724762016-11-28T09:36:46.442-08:00Intelwire.comINTELWIRE by J.M. Berger, co-author, ISIS: The State of Terror; author, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam; nonresident fellow, Brookings InstitutionAdminnoreply@blogger.comBlogger855125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-72133873140506260592016-11-28T09:36:00.002-08:002016-11-28T09:36:46.498-08:00INTELWIRE Resources on Right-Wing and Racist ExtremismIn the current U.S. and European political climate, there are significant concerns about the resurgence of right-wing extremism. Here's a list of resources on the subject available on this site and derived from my recent (and not so recent) body of work.<br /><br /><b>ACADEMIC RESEARCH&nbsp;</b><br /><br /><a href="https://icct.nl/publication/the-turner-legacy-the-storied-origins-and-enduring-impact-of-white-nationalisms-deadly-bible/">The Turner Legacy: The Storied Origins and Enduring Impact of White Nationalism’s Deadly Bible</a><div>The Turner Diaries, the infamous racist dystopian novel by neo-Nazi William Luther Pierce, has inspired more than 200 murders since its publication in 1978. This paper documents the books that directly and indirectly inspired Turner and examines the extensive violence that the novel has inspired.<br /><br /><a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Nazis%20v.%20ISIS%20Final_0.pdf">Nazis vs. ISIS on Twitter</a><br />White nationalists are thriving on Twitter and outperforming the Islamic State, which has been notorious for its success using social media, in both recruitment and messaging. A comparitive study of metrics and messaging.&nbsp;</div><br /><a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Occasional%20Paper_Berger.pdf">What Sovereign Citizens Believe</a><div>Members of the sovereign citizen movement are increasingly in the news for their violent confrontations with law enforcement, but their confusing ideology can be difficult to understand. This paper explains in simple language what sovereigns believe, and where those beliefs originated.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ICSR_Berger-and-Strathearn.pdf" style="font-family: Alike, serif;">Who Matters Online: Metrics for Monitoring Extremism Online</a></div><div>A 2012 study of white nationalist use of Twitter, and the introduction of new methods for measuing influence and in-groupness.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://ia601507.us.archive.org/6/items/BergerNSSPPATCON/Berger_NSSP_PATCON.pdf">PATCON:&nbsp;The FBI’s Secret War Against the ‘Patriot’ Movement,and How Infiltration Tactics Relate to Radicalizing Influences </a></div><div>A look at government infiltration of antigovernment movements during the 1990s, and some of the troubling dimensions of these operations.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>ARTICLES&nbsp;</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/10/donald-trump-2016-white-nationalists-alt-right-214388">How Donald Trump Won the White Nationalist Vote</a><br />Donald Trump wasn't an obvious choice to champion white nationalism in national politics. How he convinced skeptical racists that he was their candidate for president.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/how-the-turner-diaries-changed-white-nationalism/500039/">The Turner Diaries and the Alt Right</a><br />Before there was an alt-right, there was The Turner Diaries. First published nearly 40 years ago, the infamous dystopian novel depicts a fictional white nationalist revolution culminating in global genocide. The book has inspired both violence and ideological change among white supremacists in its decades of history.<br /><br />Blog Posts on Racist Dystopian Fiction:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.worldgonewrong.net/2016/09/the-john-franklin-letters.html">The John Franklin Letters</a>, the book that inspired The Turner Diaries.&nbsp;</li><li>Jack London's racist dystopian short story <a href="http://www.worldgonewrong.net/2016/09/the-unparalleled-invasion.html">The Unparalleled Invasion</a>.</li><li><a href="http://www.worldgonewrong.net/2016/09/racism-and-radiophones.html">Racism and Radiophones</a>: Two weird entries in the racist dystopia subgenre</li><li><a href="http://www.worldgonewrong.net/2016/09/the-spook-who-sat-by-door.html">The Spook Who Sat by the Door</a>, a black nationalist analogue to Turner</li></ul></div><div>Previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/11/13/the-awakening/">The Awakening: White Nationalist See Opportunity After the 2012 Election</a></li><li><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/18/patriot_games" style="font-family: Alike, serif;">Patriot Games: FBI Undercover Operations And Timothy McVeigh</a></li><li><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/17/newtown_and_the_doomsday_preppers">Newtown and the Doomsday Preppers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/08/extremists">How the Recession Helps Extremists</a></li><li><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/03/12/the_hate_list?page=full">Recalculating the SPLC's Hate List</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/08/12/is-the-threat-from-hate-groups-overlooked/al-qaedas-threat-is-of-a-different-magnitude">New York Times: Has threat from hate groups been overlooked?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/17/did_you_hear_the_one_about_us_internment_camps">Did You Hear The One About U.S. Internment Camps?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/08/the-patriot-movement-s-new-bestseller-tests-their-anti-racism.html">Unplaying the Race Card in the Patriot Movement</a></li><li><a href="http://news.intelwire.com/2012/06/some-extended-thoughts-on-evolving-role.html">The Evolution of Race in the Patriot Movement</a></li><li><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/11/21/mongol-hordes-take-manhattan/">Mongol Hordes Take Manhattan</a></li><li><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/09/07/does-the-f-b-i-have-an-informant-problem/">Sex as a Weapon: The FBI's Informant Problem</a></li></ul><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-33304525794939513012016-11-21T17:46:00.000-08:002016-11-21T17:49:57.783-08:00What's in a Name, ReduxLongtime readers may recall <a href="http://news.intelwire.com/2014/08/whats-in-name.html">my take</a> on calling the Islamic State by the name it chose for itself, with many otherwise serious people insisting that calling it ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh was a key part of our <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/isis-war-of-ideas-propaganda/415335/">war of ideas</a>. <br /><br /> As <a href="http://news.intelwire.com/2014/08/whats-in-name.html">I wrote in 2014</a>: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Extremist groups always adopt a name that reflects their greater ambitions, and as a rule, we refer to them by the names they choose. Do we legitimize the concept of a white-only state when we refer to the Aryan Nations? Do we legitimize Marxist-Leninist philosophy as shiny when we use the name Shining Path? Are we implying that fascism will bring a Golden Dawn when we talk about the Greek political party?<br />No, no and no. </blockquote>So here we go again, this time with the term "alt right," a rebranding of white nationalism to make it more palatable to normies. My thinking has not changed. Many argue that calling the alt right by its chosen name is legitimizing, including some who think nothing of using the name Islamic State. <br /><br />As I noted previously, that's not really the way this works. The solution is not to make people stop using the name, it's to make sure people know what the name and the movement behind it represents. <br /><br />Or more succinctly: Worry a lot less about what you call it, and worry more about what you can do about it. <br /><i><br />Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br /> Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a> </i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-7826277669003737262016-11-02T08:39:00.000-07:002016-11-02T08:39:32.107-07:00Interactive Map: KKK Flyer Drops, 2015-2016<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1UCHAdJGC3kOS64pAD76X1HOuL6s" width="640"></iframe><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-60636285021747576142016-10-15T08:07:00.001-07:002016-10-15T08:08:43.713-07:00The International Banks Conspiracy, ExplainedIf you're not a white supremacist, you may have missed why some people are saying <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/us/politics/trump-comments-linked-to-antisemitism.html?_r=0">Donald Trump's stump speeches</a>&nbsp;echo anti-Semitic tropes, with references to a conspiracy of secret meetings "with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial power." I discussed the origins of this language in a paper earlier this year on <a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Occasional%20Paper_Berger.pdf">the sovereign citizen movement</a>, excerpted below. It's worth noting in this context that Trump has specifically <a href="http://www.iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_bee295a2-89af-11e6-8fe0-636bde1583fe.html">called out the Federal Reserve</a> in recent weeks for being part of a conspiracy to defeat his campaign.<br /><div><br /></div><b>Financial Conspiracy Theories</b><div><b><br /></b><div class="MsoNormal"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_s1028" style="height: 137.2pt; margin-left: 171pt; margin-top: .55pt; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-relative: page; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-relative: page; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 4in; z-index: 251658240;" type="#_x0000_t75"> <v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\IWP\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.png"> <w:wrap type="square"></w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" id="_x0000_t202" o:spt="202" path="m,l,21600r21600,l21600,xe"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"> <tbody><tr> <td><!--[endif]--> <br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MFbGLcNRRh4/WAI_Cg1dhVI/AAAAAAADZqE/S8x0Inqo1LMsUffLvFnJ_TvdOKBfIMjtACLcB/s1600/fig1sov.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MFbGLcNRRh4/WAI_Cg1dhVI/AAAAAAADZqE/S8x0Inqo1LMsUffLvFnJ_TvdOKBfIMjtACLcB/s1600/fig1sov.PNG" /></a></div><div class="MsoCaption"><i>Figure 1: Excerpt from The Federal Reserve Conspiracy by Eustace Mullins</i></div></div><!--[if !mso]--></td> </tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><v:shape id="Text_x0020_Box_x0020_4" o:gfxdata="UEsDBBQABgAIAAAAIQC75UiUBQEAAB4CAAATAAAAW0NvbnRlbnRfVHlwZXNdLnhtbKSRvU7DMBSF 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d2luZzEueG1sLnJlbHNQSwUGAAAAAAUABQBnAQAAWQ0AAAAA " o:spid="_x0000_s1027" stroked="f" style="height: 21pt; margin-left: 175.3pt; margin-top: 142.25pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; v-text-anchor: top; visibility: visible; width: 4in; z-index: 251660288;" type="#_x0000_t202"> <i><v:textbox inset="0,0,0,0"> <!--[if !mso]--> <!--[endif]--></v:textbox> <w:wrap type="square"></w:wrap></i></v:shape></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Posse Comitatus [a sovereign citizen precursor group] drew some of its ideology from a boutique industry of financial conspiracy theories that sprang up during the early 20<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">th</span>&nbsp;century, in response to the growing complexity of the American economy and banking system. In particular, the creation and function of the Federal Reserve has fueled an immense reservoir of conspiracy theories regarding public debts, the value of currency, and the "international bankers" who profit from America's supposed economic misfortunes. The U.S. abandonment of the gold standard has also contributed significantly to these conspiracy theories, as many people within the sovereign movement believe U.S. currency is without real value if it is not backed by gold.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">"Only falsehoods and false principles need be discussed in mysterious terms," wrote Gertrude Coogan, author of the 1935 tract <i>Money Creators</i>, cited by Posse as a guide to American economic history. "Any citizen of ordinary mentality can readily understand the money system of this country."<a href="file:///C:/Users/IWP/Dropbox/!%20Sync/working/gwu/sovs/what-sovereigns-believe_Edits.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This concept—that something must be simple in order to be true—paradoxically serves to undermine the reality of history and modern economics, even as its proponents generate conspiracy theories that are often themselves breathtakingly complex. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Among other things, Coogan claimed the Civil War was not about slavery but instead was the result of a conspiracy by "certain bankers" and "internationalists" to weaken America for future economic exploitation. Coogan's book was coy about the identity of the "international money masters and their domestic pawns" who were responsible for subverting the Constitution and destroying capitalism, but other authors cited by Posse did not bother to mask their anti-Semitism. Eustace Mullins, author of the Posse-recommended <i>The Federal Reserve Conspiracy,</i> dutifully enumerated the biographies of the "enemy aliens" who had seized control of the American banking system with information cited to the "Who's Who in American Jewry."<a href="file:///C:/Users/IWP/Dropbox/!%20Sync/working/gwu/sovs/what-sovereigns-believe_Edits.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_5" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" style="height: 297.05pt; margin-left: 128.8pt; margin-top: .6pt; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-percent: 0; mso-height-relative: page; mso-position-horizontal-relative: margin; mso-position-horizontal: right; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-percent: 0; mso-width-relative: page; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 180pt; z-index: 251661312;" type="#_x0000_t75"> <v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\IWP\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg"> <w:wrap anchorx="margin" type="square"></w:wrap></v:imagedata></v:shape></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Coogan, Mullins, Wickliffe Vennard, and other favored authors cited by Posse Comitatus were all published or republished by a company known as Omni Publications, which today continues to distribute their works under the name Omni Christian Book Club. Omni represents one of the most significant propagators of these conspiracy theories. Over the course of decades, Omni has propagated a vast array of material related to "international banking conspiracy," some of it carefully generic, others overtly anti-Semitic. (The company also distributed the infamous anti-Semitic hoax, <i>The Protocols of the Elders of Zion</i>.) <o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The short version of these various theories is that "international bankers," usually meaning Jews, rendered U.S. currency worthless in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve. These theories generally hold that the international banking conspiracy was intended to subject Americans to "economic slavery." A 1968 Omni Publications pamphlet, <i>The Green Magicians</i>, blamed World War II on an "internationalist" effort to crush Hitler's superior financial system and includes an anti-Semitic quote falsely attributed to Ben Franklin. The "bankers" were in turn tied to the spread of Communism, a common theme in such publications from the 1950s onward. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Many of these concepts have filtered down into the sovereign citizen movement, but usually in a much-diluted form. While white supremacy and anti-Semitism can certainly be found among sovereign citizens, sovereign texts tend to strip out many details, including direct references to Jewish conspiracies, presenting a greatly simplified version of events with vague references to "bankers" as the source of the conspiracy. Key elements that have been carried into the modern movement, at something of a distance from their original context, include the sinister nature of the Federal Reserve, a host of incorrect inferences related to the effect of America's public debt, and the illusory nature of credit and the U.S. currency, with the accompanying implications for money-making procedures and schemes. <o:p></o:p></div><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GOSIJ23R0qw/WAJChX82TKI/AAAAAAADZqQ/Mos2sl67Q9cZ66OrHCJsDHhLQOzFkk3qACLcB/s1600/fig2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GOSIJ23R0qw/WAJChX82TKI/AAAAAAADZqQ/Mos2sl67Q9cZ66OrHCJsDHhLQOzFkk3qACLcB/s1600/fig2.PNG" /></a></div><br /><br /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><!--[endif]--> <br /><div id="edn1"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/IWP/Dropbox/!%20Sync/working/gwu/sovs/what-sovereigns-believe_Edits.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Coogan, Gertrude. <i>Money Creators</i>. Unknown (1935). <o:p></o:p></div></div><div id="edn2"><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/IWP/Dropbox/!%20Sync/working/gwu/sovs/what-sovereigns-believe_Edits.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>Mullins, Eustace. <i>The Federal Reserve Conspiracy</i>. Christian Educational Association (1954).&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div></div></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-91834939319417768582016-09-11T14:53:00.001-07:002016-09-11T14:53:48.511-07:00Nazis vs. ISIS on Twitter<span style="font-style: italic;">My new paper for GWU's Program on Extremism has been released:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Nazis%20v.%20ISIS%20Final_0.pdf">Nazis vs. ISIS on Twitter</a></span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has distinguished itself as a pioneer in the use of social media for recruitment. But, while ISIS continues to be one of the most influential terrorist groups in the material world, other extremists are closing the gap in the virtual realm. On Twitter, ISIS’s preferred social platform, American white nationalist movements have seen their followers grow by more than 600% since 2012. Today, they outperform ISIS in nearly every social metric, from follower counts to tweets per day. This study examines and compares the use of Twitter by white nationalists, Nazi sympathizers, and ISIS supporters respectively, providing some preliminary comparisons of how each movement uses the platform.&nbsp;</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-86646292027805012522016-09-11T14:51:00.000-07:002016-09-11T14:51:05.261-07:0015 Years of Terror -- PBS NovaI appeared on PBS Nova to discuss terrorism on social media, and my relationship with Omar Hammami.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/15-years-terror.html">Nova: 15 Years of Terror</a><br /><br />Related story: <a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/09/16/omar_and_me">Omar and Me</a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-380935034951698352016-08-31T22:54:00.001-07:002016-09-01T03:12:50.292-07:00The Social Apocalypse: A Forecast<i>By J.M. Berger</i><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Tens of thousands of foreign fighters found their way to <a href="http://amzn.to/29P0l1p">Afghanistan during the 1980s</a>, without benefit of the Internet. More than 900 Americans found their way to Guyana in the 1970s, to die in the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/drinking-the-kool-aid-a-survivor-remembers-jim-jones/248723/">Jonestown massacre</a>. Extremists have always found ways to make contact with like-minded recruits. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For a long time, I resisted the idea that social media was a global game changer. As new companies sprouted up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, each promised its technology would change everything. They came and they went, some faster than others, some still lingering in a vegetative state. Compuserve, AIM, Napster, Friendster, Tripod, Geocities, MySpace, Digg… It was hard to take their grandiose claims seriously. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But some survived, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit. And<span style="font-size: 10.6667px; line-height: 12.2667px;">&nbsp;</span>I have watched as they changed the global game. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Many of these changes are neutral or good – from enabling global commerce to empowering free expression in authoritarian societies. But social media has also revolutionized the business of violent extremism, perhaps more profoundly than any other sphere. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In 2011, I wrote that terrorists use the Internet <a href="http://news.intelwire.com/2011/07/internet-provides-terrorists-with-tools.html">the same way that everyone else does</a>. That is no longer true, and perhaps I should have seen it coming sooner.&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The last eight months have seen wall-to-wall chaos, with violence coming from multiple directions and diverse ideologies, capable of landing anywhere in the world, attacks that specifically target people by race, religion, gender and sexual orientation – resulting in widespread fear and anger among people of every identity group. The list goes on and on and on… <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34818994">Paris</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/europe/france-normandy-church-hostage/">Normandy</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/europe/nice-france-attack/">Nice</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35869985">Brussels</a>, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/23/munich-shooting-german-iranian-gunman-targeted-children-outside/">Munich</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/24/world/ansbach-germany-blast/">Ansbach</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/asia/bangladesh-hostage-standoff.html">Dhaka</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/world/europe/germany-train-ax-attack.html?_r=0">Würzburg</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/specials/san-bernardino-shooting">San Bernardino</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/">Orlando</a>, <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/oregon-ranchers-radical-ideology-213514">Malheur</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/us/dallas-shooting-investigation/">Dallas</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/us/baton-rouge-shooting.html?_r=0">Baton Rouge</a>, a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?num=100&amp;newwindow=1&amp;safe=off&amp;q=stabbing+attacks+israel&amp;oq=stabbing+attacks+israel&amp;gs_l=serp.3..0.21759.22926.0.23269.7.3.0.4.4.0.102.290.2j1.3.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..0.7.293...0i22i30.KtSyFgpo18c">wave of stabbing attacks</a> in Israel, attacks on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/10/living/mosques-attack-study-2015/">mosques and Muslims</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There have been many cosmetic changes to extremist recruitment and radicalization in the Internet era, but also a few fundamental shifts. Recruiting in cyberspace offers critical advantages over meatspace<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"> – a term coined from cyberpunk novels of the 1980s and 1990s to describe the old-fashioned world of human bodies in proximity to one another</a>. They include:&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><ol><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Security. Recruiters can search online for prospects without exposing themselves to scrutiny, and they enjoy better anonymity when they approach a target. Potential recruits can </span><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/tailored-online-interventions-the-islamic-states-recruitment-strategy" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">forge relationships</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> with violent extremists </span><i style="text-indent: -0.25in;">before</i><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> exposing themselves to physical risk in a face-to-face meeting.</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Discovery. Recruiters and potential recruits can now hunt through a target audience of millions to find each other. Before they were constrained by the cost of travel and the risk of exposure, and the reduced reach that comes with working in meatspace.</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Remote intimacy: Recruitment is ultimately about relationships. In a world of networked social media, it is easier to build intimate relationships over geographic distances, even while maintaining some veneer of anonymity.</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Speed of contagion: It took centuries for early Christianity to overwhelm the Roman Empire – enough time for its </span><a href="http://amzn.to/2a5cjtq" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">early apocalyptic strain</a><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> to evolve and moderate, allowing for the rise of institutions to stabilize its belief system. Today, ideas spread as fast as they change, often faster. For now, at least, the contagion can outrace the evolutionary pressures that push movements into moderation. This shift favors more extreme ideas, which propagate faster than ever before.</span><o:p style="text-indent: -0.25in;">&nbsp;</o:p></li></ol></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">None of these dynamics are exclusive to jihadism. All of them are new developments in social interactions, and all of them have consequences. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The most prolific and extreme offender on social media has been the Islamic State, known as ISIS or ISIL, whose message has been broadcast around the world on social media, with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFYHrZOkx_w&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;list=PLA9DF592615F3FCAD">extraordinary speed and success</a>. But the Islamic State’s social media effort <a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Berger_Occasional%20Paper.pdf">has peaked</a>, and its successors are already on the rise.&nbsp; &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Consider white nationalism, an ideology that went through an extended period of decline, with sharp losses starting in the late 1990s and continuing through the 2000s. The movement’s adherents were fragmented, factionalized and isolated in the face of a powerful social current against overt racism. Now, a mix of <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/inside-a-white-nationalist-conference-energized-by-trumps-ri?utm_term=.dtWbpdLO9#.eqLx9jX7z">political factors</a> and the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/how-2015-fueled-the-rise-of-the-freewheeling-white-nationali?utm_term=.hbmD1jvKJ#.my8vPl8Qp">rise of social networking</a> have sparked a worrying resurgence.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">One element of white nationalism’s decline was its marginalization from the mainstream of society. The role of mainstream media gatekeepers was crucial in reinforcing that isolation through the second half of the 20<sup>th</sup>Century. Overt white nationalism was rarely found on editorial pages, and its leading figures were rarely seen on the news, except in a negative light. Popular entertainment and culture reinforced messages promoting diversity. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Social media was not the only factor driving the return of white nationalism – the election of an African-American president, economic and demographic shifts, and a new flood of refugees from the Syrian civil war all provide important political context. But the mechanics of the resurgence were swifter and more volatile because of instantaneous global networking, and some key offline factors – including the rise of the Islamic State and Donald Trump’s <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/03/welcome-to-donald-trumps-america/">racially divisive</a> presidential campaign – have been profoundly <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/07/05/paul-ryan-trump-campaign-needs-to-clean-up-its-social-media/">empowered by access to social media</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Early social media, such as <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/stormfront">bulletin boards and message boards</a>, provided rare forums where white nationalists could gather and share their views without fear of censure. But when open social media platforms emerged – including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter – a pressure valve burst open, releasing a scalding jet of steam. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">After decades of being silenced, white nationalists could suddenly organize into significant audiences, sometimes as many as tens of thousands of people, sometimes more. Functional anonymity insulated many adherents from the professional and social consequences of professing overt racism in the real world. And they could project their message to audiences who had not sought them out – hundreds of thousands more.&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">While estimates of the total population of white nationalist supporters online are less concrete than those for the Islamic State, my preliminary research shows substantial increases in activist social media accounts since 2012, congruent with the rise of nationalist political movements in the United States and Europe. The total, at the least, runs into six figures. (These gains are detailed in <a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Nazis%20v.%20ISIS%20Final_0.pdf">my new paper</a> for GWU’s <a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/program-extremism">Program on Extremism</a>.)&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />None of this comes as a surprise to anyone active on social media. Journalists, experts, celebrities and ordinary people are now routinely exposed to torrents of <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2016/05/26/138255/in-response-to-the-unknown-and-faceless/">racist</a>, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/welcome-to-nazi-twitter-ill-be-your-guide/486233/">anti-Semitic</a>, <a href="http://www.wetheunicorns.com/news/lgbt-campaign-troll-homophobe-4chan/">homophobic</a>and <a href="http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-02-18/trolls-are-winning-gamergate-case-will-not-go-trial">misogynistic</a>abuse. Efforts to highlight this activity and shame the perpetrators often simply encourages the abusers and exposes more people to their message of hate, a paradox familiar to anyone working on jihadist social media.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Much of this abuse is <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/trolls-are-trying-to-get-kids-on-tumblr-to-commit-suicide?utm_term=.jkNRbpnO2#.pxZoZqxYp">organized, rather than spontaneous</a>, and white nationalists are only part of the picture. From “Trumpkins” to “Bernie Bros,” antisocial content surrounding <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/4/4/11355876/milo-yiannopoulos'">contentious online personalities</a> has skyrocketed, carried out by users for whom trolling has become a consuming vocation, in some cases <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html">literally</a>. &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Online culture has also led to convergence between those who sincerely believe in an extremist ideology, such as Nazism, and those who instrumentalize that ideology as an outlet for less defined antisocial impulses such as harassment and bullying. Some users eventually become true believers after starting out simply as antisocial harassers. Author <a href="https://twitter.com/notjessewalker/status/733733357096423424">Jesse Walker</a> called this the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/13719-we-are-what-we-pretend-to-be-so-we-must">“Mother Night” phenomenon</a>, referring to a Kurt Vonnegut novel whose theme is summed up in the quote: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Some pranksters and professional trolls now routinely skip among ideologies, and <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/russian-trolls-vast-insult-cartoon-database/26938435.html">state-sponsored trolls</a> are often on hand to pour fuel on the fire. One Jewish-American arrested for supporting the Islamic State turned out to be a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Ryne_Goldberg#Feminism-related_personas">full-time troll</a> posing as everything from a jihadist to a neo-Nazi to radical feminist. Sometimes he argued with himself using his various accounts. His jihadi persona was virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, and sincere or not, he played a real part in supporting the Islamic State and encouraging terrorist attacks. He will not be the last such chimera we see. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The truly bad news in all of this is that the Islamic State was the easy problem. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The hyperactivity and hyperviolence of the Islamic State’s social media is prone to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-reveals-it-has-suspended-125000-isis-related-accounts/">break most social media platforms’ terms of service</a>, the rules that users agree to when they sign up. The Islamic State is also a discrete organization, an entity with a geographic locus. And it is the ultimate outsider, so incredibly marginalized that virtually no one will advocate on its behalf as its social media accounts are suspended – <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/al-qaeda-leader-al-zawahiri-declares-war-isis/story?id=33656684">not even al Qaeda</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Consider then the much greater challenge that lies ahead. White nationalism is not an outsider in Western civilization, by any reasonable measure. We are scant decades past its overt domination of Western politics, and it is enjoying a resurgence today in the form of nationalist political parties and candidates <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/19/the-rise-of-the-far-right-in-europe-is-not-a-false-alarm/">throughout the Western world</a>. While some white nationalist adherents are careless about the terms of service, many color within the lines, if only barely. While many people are repulsed by white nationalists and their principles, others are busy <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/106fdaf2-e46e-11e5-ac45-5c039e797d1c.html">electing them to public office</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The blurred lines create new challenges. Even with Islamic State social networks, a handful of people have objected to disruption and suppression on the basis of free speech concerns, while not defending the group itself. For extremist movements that are less brazen and more integrated into host societies, the difficulties multiply. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For instance, sovereign citizen propaganda almost certainly leads <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article51885525.html">some adherents to violence</a>, but sovereign content does not typically cross the line with explicit calls to violence, as defined by most social media companies’ terms of service. Race hate without a threat of violence is not consistently suspended despite pertinent rules in social media platforms’ terms of service. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">These problems cannot be easily solved. There is no central authority to litigate social media conflicts, which cross lines between private companies and public discourse, and must accommodate multiple jurisdictions around the globe. Few would favor such an approach even if the many practical obstacles could be surmounted. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It is possible that some sort of social or technological solution to these challenges will evolve organically, whether through the restructuring of online social platforms, the emergence of truly positive viral movements with real staying power (as opposed to the current paradigm of <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/how-isis-succeeds-where-stopkony-fails/387859/">surge and fade</a>). <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But as of now, there is little visible reason for optimism. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">While not everyone uses social media, those who do play an increasingly dominant role driving public policy and mainstream media coverage. What happens on social media matters, although it does not always provide a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/22/politics/david-duke-senate-race/">straight line from intention to result</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And although social media is a key facilitator of extremist sprawl, there is also a spillover effect. Public <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/03/isis-roller-ball-hunger-games-cinema/">spectacle violence</a> – more and more often inspired by social media – dominates the mainstream media, which takes cues about what to cover from social media, resulting in more coverage that reaches more people, inspiring <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/science/mass-killings-contagion-copycat.html">copycats</a>and creating more curiosity about extremist groups, which can then be <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=white%20genocide%2C%20sovereign%20citizen%2C%20black%20nationalism&amp;cmpt=q&amp;tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B4">satisfied online</a>. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I believe we are seeing the start of a massive social reorganization with serious implications for global and national security. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Salafists and white nationalists already excel at creating online echo chambers, flocking to follow social media accounts focused on grievances related to Muslim prisoners and black violence, respectively. Both white nationalists and jihadists have been hobbled by the <a href="https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110921-cutting-through-lone-wolf-hype">lone wolf model</a> for years, but the rise of super-empowered super-minorities – such as the Islamic State – has created a new path toward the successful mobilization of fractional percentages of global demographic groups. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Russia, Iran, Syria and other state actors have carefully and strategically <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-trolling-could-become-the-new-international-language-of-diplomacy/2015/05/15/5b092014-f9a0-11e4-a13c-193b1241d51a_story.html">built their own echo chambers</a>. Anarchists, socialists, sovereign citizens and black nationalists are not far behind, although various factors have slowed the crystallization of their social networks. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">While there is no consistent estimate of the Islamic State’s foreign fighter base, no one believes it is greater than tens of thousands of fighters. Yet combined with its other assets, the Islamic State has thrown the world into a frenzy of activity, both productive and counterproductive.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Ten thousand people are a drop in the bucket compared to the population of the world or even most nations. But ten thousand people acting in concert can disrupt events on a global scale.<o:p></o:p></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />One million people comprise less than two one-thousandths of 1 percent of the world’s population. But one million people acting in concert can wreak unimaginable havoc. We are marching toward an event of that magnitude, whether next year, or in ten years. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We are not ready.<br /><br />Turbulence, at least in the near-term, is almost assured. In the worst-case scenario, governments, social media companies and civil society will completely fail to agree on how to implement solutions. Without meaningful controls, we will see millions of people organize themselves according to racial, class or religious identity in defiance of a generation of progress toward pluralism. We will see migration driven by social media ties – as we have already seen with the Islamic State.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the United States, white separatist movements have already staked out territories for a <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/northwest-front-americas-worst-racists-119803">racially pure homeland</a>, and travel to those territories is far simpler than making hijra to Syria from the West. We will see weaker movements attempt to implement the same sort of headline-grabbing broadcast violence that the Islamic State has perpetrated, along with ultraviolent splinters from larger mainstream radical currents. The current mainstreaming of white nationalism likely poses the most imminent threat of expanded broadcast violence, which the current political cycle is likely to aggravate.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In a best-case scenario, the forces of tolerance and pluralism will organically evolve social media tools and dynamics that we cannot yet foresee, which will restore the status quo of a strong and resilient social center. While this is possible, maybe even likely, it seems certain that many years will pass before such tools and dynamics emerge and become widely adopted. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">To reach this steady state will require great patience and a lot of luck. We will have to avoid hazards such as escalating sectarian and identity violence, moves toward segregation, and the potential for planet-destroying wars. Success is not assured, and we could experience serious violence and upheaval in the meantime. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Between these two poles is the middle road, with frequent viral outbursts of social instability amid only sporadic progress. If we’re lucky, these eruptions will take place consecutively, rather than concurrently, but that ship has arguably sailed. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This scenario still leads to a massive social reorganization, but more slowly, with slower transmission times for radical ideologies, which allow moderating influences to creep into extremist social networks. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Under this scenario, interim steps, such as the <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/northwest-front-americas-worst-racists-119803">European Commission’s social media Code of Conduct</a> announced in May, will provide some relief, while emerging behaviors and the inconsistent application of standards by different and new social media platforms will still allow surges through shifting loopholes. Progress will be stymied by new and unforeseen problems – such as when Twitter suspended a number of <a href="http://gizmodo.com/twitter-shuts-down-russian-parody-accounts-and-the-us-1779634465">prominent accounts parodying the Russian government</a> on the same day that the Code of Conduct was announced. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Freewheeling social media platforms, such as Twitter, may give way to more controlled environments such as <a href="http://www.recode.net/2015/9/18/11618698/washington-is-all-over-the-new-app-sidewire-twitter-for-politics">Sidewire</a>or adopt policies similar to Facebook, where users are (at least theoretically) required to <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/15/10215936/facebook-real-name-policy-changes-appeal-process">provide real names</a> and content is policed more aggressively. But there are many tradeoffs in such a transition, including limits on <a href="http://time.com/90693/bringbackourgirls-nigeria-boko-haram/">socially positive virality</a> and the diminishment of value for OSINT and breaking news. Such a homogenization of social network models might not be ideal, but it may be a necessary stage on the way to a solution. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">On the technical side, there are opportunities for innovation. The simplified structure and more-open data access offered by platforms like Twitter is ripe for exploitation to detect and address social trends before problems fully materialize. For instance,&nbsp;the extent of the&nbsp;the ideological and popular challenge that the Islamic State presented to al Qaeda was <a href="http://news.intelwire.com/2014/06/following-money-men.html">clearly visible online</a> before it became <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/02/the-islamic-state-vs-al-qaeda/">visible in the news</a>, as was the <a href="http://blog.jmberger.com/2015/09/yourname2016.html">rise of Donald Trump and the fall of Jeb Bush</a>. Currently, we have only scraped the surface of social media’s potential for early detection and forecasting of social trends.<br /><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">On this middle road, the challenge from violent extremists and hate groups will persist, but slowly shift from large, drawn-out battles with extremists and harassers into a series of skirmishes that flare up and die down relatively quickly. As new ideologies and actors employ an ever-evolving array of techniques, fringe movements will establish beachheads on larger platforms -- such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube -- then take their adherents to smaller platforms where policing is less strict or less structurally feasible, as Islamic State supporters <a href="http://www.jihadica.com/come-back-to-twitter/">have done on Telegram</a>.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">No matter which road we take, one intrinsic problem will remain. Social media has rapidly become the public square of the 21<sup>st</sup>Century. For many users, especially in countries with strict limits on speech and assembly, social media feels like a venue for free speech. But it is not. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Social media operates on a global stage made up of multiple overlapping jurisdictions. At the top of the hierarchy are the social media companies themselves. For all intents and purposes, these companies represent a genuine corporatocracy with near-absolute and – as of today – completely unaccountable control over who enjoys the benefits of speech and assembly. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Every large social media company suspends thousands of users per day for harassment, abuse, obscenity, pornography. They do not disclose the details of this activity. We do not know whether workers who police content reflect racial and religious diversity, or whether they are trained in those issues, and we do not know whether the demographics of users who are suspended reflect racial or religious biases. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">While Twitter, Facebook and Google may have good intentions, they have very different and constantly evolving interpretations of their obligations and the boundaries of acceptable speech. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">To date, social media companies have shown an admirable commitment to <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en/takeaction/whats-at-stake/">defying suppression of the Internet</a> by authoritarian regimes, but these efforts will come under increasing pressure as markets like China beckon and political situations around the world <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/07/watching-attempted-turkish-coup-unfold-twitter/">grow more complex</a>. While we may applaud social media companies’ efforts to promote free speech in these settings, we did not elect the executives of these companies in a democratic process to be the arbiters of acceptable speech on a global scale, nor do they have any particular qualifications for this job. Yet there is no immediate or obvious solution to the problem presented by the distribution of power and responsibility in this arena. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">While we can hope for the best, we should prepare for the worst. For the foreseeable future, the advantage lies with the extremists. The coming era of radical change will likely be violent and unstable, and governments need to start preparing, by building resilience and innovating where they can, particularly in the area of early trend detection. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Instability can be survived, if we are prepared for it. What we cannot afford to repeat is the institutional response to the Islamic State, as a phenomenon that “came out of nowhere” in the eyes of many policy makers and news organizations, using tactics no one had foreseen. In a complex world, we must anticipate complex problems, not let them sweep us off our feet, over and over again. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>J.M. Berger is a fellow with George Washington University’s Program on Extremism and an associate fellow with the International Centre for Counter Terrorism, The Hague.<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG" style="font-style: italic;">ISIS: The State of Terror</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-21576489880402280852016-07-28T18:48:00.002-07:002016-07-28T18:48:40.953-07:00Al Nusra Splits From Al Qaeda: What It Means<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After years of rumours, Syrian jihadist group Jabhat al Nusra is expected to sever its longstanding affiliation with al Qaeda at any moment.<br /><br />As news of the impending split broke, many questions arose: Was it simply a smokescreen? Would al Qaeda still be pulling al Nusra’s strings? Won’t al Nusra still represent an extremist, violent ideology?<br /><br />Healthy skepticism is definitely called for, but this extraordinary development is far from inconsequential. Even if the ideology remains the same, even if al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri continues to influence al Nusra’s ranks and its leaders, the shift in allegiance will reverberate around the globe.<br /><br />The break formalises a dynamic that has been apparent for some time – al Qaeda’s affiliates have become <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32913509">less and less global</a>, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/world/middleeast/qaeda-yemen-syria-houthis.html?_r=0">more and more local</a>. The vision of al Qaeda as one big thing has given way to the reality of multiple al Qaedas – in Syria, Yemen, Northwest Africa, East Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent. The affiliates increasingly cater to local concerns and local politics. Even before the break, al Nusra cited instructions from Zawahiri to cease any efforts to attack the West.<br /><br />Of all the affiliates, al Nusra is best positioned to enjoy the benefits of independence.<br /><br />Whatever skepticism and suspicions Western analysts and Syrian rebels rightly harbour about the split, some in the Middle East will be happy to take it at face value. Al Nusra functions within a highly diverse coalition fighting the Assad regime, and the separation from al Qaeda will enhance its ability to form alliances, despite lingering suspicions about its ultimate agenda. The break will also legitimise fundraising by Gulf donors and the states that regulate them, to a greater or lesser extent.<br /><br />More broadly, this marks the beginning of the end for the global al Qaeda brand. <br /><br /><a href="https://icct.nl/publication/jabhat-al-nusra-splits-from-al-qaeda/">Read the full analysis at The International Centre for Counter Terrorism -- The Hague, web site</a><br /></div><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>J.M. Berger is a fellow with George Washington University's Program on Extremism and an associate fellow with the International Centre for Counter Terrorism -- The Hague.&nbsp;</i></div><div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger.&nbsp;</i></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><i>Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, </i><a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH" style="font-style: italic;">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-78533453388131746972016-07-08T19:49:00.002-07:002016-07-08T19:49:38.495-07:00Making CVE Work<div><span style="font-family: alike, serif;">I published a major paper on countering violent extremism, including a critique of current policy assumptions and a proposal for a plan of action.&nbsp;</span></div><span style="font-family: alike, serif;"><div><span style="font-family: alike, serif;"><br /></span></div><b><a href="http://icct.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/J.-M.-Berger-Making-CVE-Work-A-Focused-Approach-Based-on-Process-Disruption-.pdf">New ICCT Paper Tackles Major CVE Challenges</a></b></span><br style="font-family: Alike, serif;" /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: alike, serif;">One of the biggest barriers to designing a comprehensive Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program is defining its scope. This paper argues for a narrow approach, focusing on disengagement and the disruption of recruitment, a simplified model of radicalization, and concrete themes for disruptive intervention and messaging. After analyzing case studies of disengagement, a specific program of action is recommended. |&nbsp;</span><b style="font-family: Alike, serif;"><a href="http://icct.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/J.-M.-Berger-Making-CVE-Work-A-Focused-Approach-Based-on-Process-Disruption-.pdf">Read the full paper (PDF)</a></b><span style="font-family: alike, serif;">&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-49008900147224530062016-07-08T19:48:00.000-07:002016-07-08T19:48:03.258-07:00The Dystopian SpectacleMy most recent article, published Sunday, looks at the violent spectacle in dystopian fiction, and how it does and does not reflect the new realities of shared violence online, in the context of ISIS but also the next wave of participatory violence:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">One of the most popular tropes in dystopian fiction is the “violent spectacle.” Immortalized in recent years by The Hunger Gamesseries, the concept is simple: A corrupt society uses some public display or broadcast of violence to manipulate the masses.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">But it’s never been purely fiction. The concept of providing the masses with an experience of intentionally shared violence has, from time to time, also surfaced in the real world. In its heyday, the Roman Colosseum hosted mock battles and public executions that drew massive crowds. And during France’s Reign of Terror, tens of&nbsp;thousands were executed, many in public, with the clear intent to intimidate.</blockquote><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/03/isis-roller-ball-hunger-games-cinema/">The full article is here.</a><br /><div><br /></div><div>I have launched a new blog, <a href="http://www.worldgonewrong.net/">World Gone Wrong</a>, to explore the intersection of radical politics and dystopian fiction, a topic that has long fascinated me. Here are some of my earlier writings on dystopia and radicalism:</div><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><div><ul><li><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/11/21/mongol-hordes-take-manhattan/" style="font-family: Alike, serif;">Mongol Hordes Take Manhattan</a><span style="font-family: &quot;alike&quot; , serif;">&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;alike&quot; , serif;"><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/08/the-patriot-movement-s-new-bestseller-tests-their-anti-racism.html">Unplaying the Race Card in the Patriot Movement</a></span></li></ul></div><span style="font-style: italic;">And the latest post on World Gone Wrong:&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.worldgonewrong.net/2016/07/the-purge-election-year.html">The Purge: Election Year</a></li></ul><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG" style="font-style: italic;">ISIS: The State of Terror</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-65318922234933413632016-06-02T07:15:00.002-07:002016-06-02T07:15:42.503-07:00Without Prejudice: What Sovereign Citizens Believe<span style="font-style: italic;">If you've ever read a sovereign citizen court filing, you may be understandably confused about the ideology behind the movement.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: alike, serif;">Members of the sovereign citizen movement are increasingly in the news for their violent confrontations with law enforcement, but their confusing ideology can be difficult to understand. My newest paper for GWU's <a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/program-extremism">Program on Extremism</a> explains in simple language what sovereigns believe, and where those beliefs originated.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: alike, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Alike, serif;"></span><b style="font-family: Alike, serif;"><a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/Occasional%20Paper_Berger.pdf">Read the full paper (PDF)</a></b><span style="font-family: alike, serif;">&nbsp;</span><div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-28876345212369646382016-05-26T10:18:00.001-07:002016-05-26T10:19:18.197-07:00New Paper: Making CVE Work Through a Focused Approach<span style="font-style: italic;">My latest pap</span>er, <a href="http://icct.nl/publication/making-cve-work-a-focused-approach-based-on-process-disruption/">Making CVE Work: A Focused Approach Based on Process Disruption</a>, has been published by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague. As long-time readers will know, I have long been a critic of the broad spectrum of CVE programs, based on a number of different objections. This paper is the summation of some years spent in the CVE trenches, working on programs and sitting through an endless series of planning meetings that I have come to think of as "CVE Groundhog Day." I have also done something here that I have not done in my previous writings on this subject -- offer a specific proposal for how I believe CVE can be accomplished most effectively.<br /><br />The paper addresses:<br /><br /><ul><li>A survey of the many flawed but seemingly unkillable assumptions about what constitutes CVE efforts, based in large part on my CVE Groundhog Day experiences.&nbsp;</li><li>Case studies in how and why people actually disengage from violent armed movements, as opposed to theories based on the aforementioned assumptions.&nbsp;</li><li>Based on those case studies, an updated version of my "Five Ds of CVE," in which I advocate for using negative inputs to promote disengagement from violent extremism and VE recruiting networks, as opposed to feel-good efforts to transform people vulnerable to radicalization into upstanding citizens of a pluralistic global society. &nbsp;</li><li>A radicalization model that is practical enough to use for CVE purposes, but not wedded to any specific ideology.&nbsp;</li><li>A proposal for how to integrate all of the above into a specific program that includes something many CVE programs lack -- a credible evaluation of the program's results. &nbsp;</li></ul><br />I still believe that CVE is a concept with some merit, if it can be stripped of its overweening ambition and factually flawed premises (prominently <a href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/257913.pdf">on display this week</a>, unfortunately). This paper represents my best effort to contribute to a more effective model that can be evaluated on its actual merits.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/ISIS-State-Terror-Jessica-Stern/dp/0062395556/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1411555220&amp;sr=8-3&amp;linkCode=sl1&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=3cbd7526307b046fba1a6e2ac796d9ce">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>Adminnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-74149459140501394862016-02-15T08:43:00.003-08:002016-02-15T08:49:57.938-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 2/15/16<b style="font-family: Alike, serif;">ISIS: THE STATE OF TERROR</b><br /><b style="font-family: Alike, serif;"><i><br /></i></b><span style="font-family: &quot;alike&quot; , serif;"></span><i style="font-family: Alike, serif;">ISIS: The State of Terror</i><span style="font-family: &quot;alike&quot; , serif;">, by Jessica Stern and INTELWIRE's J.M. Berger, is now</span><a href="http://amzn.to/1W7cUY6" style="font-family: Alike, serif;">available in paperback</a><span style="font-family: &quot;alike&quot; , serif;">, with a new afterword on its strategy and global terrorist attacks. The book was also selected as a&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.wsjplus.com/offers/books-feb" style="font-family: Alike, serif;">February book of the month</a><span style="font-family: &quot;alike&quot; , serif;">&nbsp;by WSJ+, as part of a special package deal which includes a 35 percent discount.</span><br /><b><br /></b><b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10967494.2015.1027431?journalCode=upmj20">With Friends Like These … Why Terrorist Organizations Ally</a><br />Why do terrorist organizations ally with one another? Overall, terrorist organizations tend to prefer network structures that are organized into cliques or subgroups, though with some outreach to clusters beyond their primary partners. <i>By Victor H. Asal, Hyun Hee Park, R. Karl Rethemeyer &amp; Gary Ackerman</i>.<br /><br /><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/02/09-experts-weigh-in-isis-governance-zelin-mccants">Experts weigh in (part 3): Is ISIS good at governing?</a><br />Aaron Zelin, the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to weigh in with a historical perspective on ISIS governance.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/09/politics/james-clapper-isis-syrian-refugees/index.html">Top intelligence official: ISIS to attempt U.S. attacks this year</a><br />Top U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday that ISIS was likely to attempt direct attacks on the U.S. in the coming year and that the group was infiltrating refugees escaping from Iraq and Syria to move across borders.<br /><br /><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wife-isis-figure-charged-american-woman-kayla-muellers/story?id=36796458">Wife of ISIS Figure Charged in American Woman Kayla Mueller's Death</a><br />The U.S. Department of Justice today charge the wife of a top ISIS leader today for her alleged role in a “conspiracy” that led to the death of American aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was reported killed in Syria a year ago.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/12/11/370022514/isis-used-predatory-tools-and-tactics-to-convince-u-s-teens-to-join?utm_campaign=storyshare&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social">ISIS Used Predatory Tools And Tactics To Convince U.S. Teens To Join</a><br />It began with messages sent through an anonymous app. Slowly, the Denver-area girls were lured in, until one day they weren't at school. One girl's dad quickly realized why: They were flying to Syria.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/world/middleeast/syrian-opposition-groups-sense-us-support-fading.html">Syrian Opposition Groups Sense U.S. Support Fading</a><br />The United States and its allies have spent many millions of dollars backing Syrian opposition fighters they deem relatively moderate and secular, and civilian groups whose work on small businesses and local councils they billed as the cornerstone of Syria’s future.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><a href="http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/malheur-occupation-ends/"><br /></a><a href="http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/malheur-occupation-ends/">Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Occupation Ends</a><br />After 41 days, an armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge came to a conclusion Thursday morning. The four remaining militants at the refuge&nbsp;surrendered to federal authorities.<br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fbi-arrests-nevada-rancher-cliven-bundy-portland-36854292">Cliven Bundy Arrested, Charged in 2014 Nevada Standoff Case</a><br />The father of the jailed leader of a group that occupied an Oregon federal wildlife refuge was charged Thursday by federal authorities with leading a tense April 2014 armed standoff with&nbsp;Bureau of Land Management agents near his ranch in Nevada.&nbsp;A federal magistrate judge ordered Cliven Bundy to remain in custody at least until next Tuesday, and said she'll consider his request for a court-appointed attorney.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-steps-up-pursuit-of-terror-threats-on-social-media-1454896044">FBI Steps Up Pursuit of Terror Threats on Social Media</a><br />As the U.S. government tries to root out homegrown jihadists, the FBI’s campaign to identify budding terrorists via the Internet before they can carry out violence is playing an increasingly prominent role.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/world/middleeast/russian-intervention-in-syrian-war-has-sharply-reduced-us-options.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0">Russian Intervention in Syrian War Has Sharply Reduced U.S. Options</a><br />For months now the United States has insisted there can be no military solution to the Syrian civil war. But after days of intense bombing that could soon put the critical city of Aleppo back into the hands of Mr. Assad’s forces, the Russians may be proving the United States wrong.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-attacks-idUSKCN0VM09U?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=topNews&amp;utm_source=twitter">Mali Islamist group Ansar Dine claims attack on U.N. base</a><br />Malian Islamist militant group Ansar Dine said it carried out a suicide and rocket attack on a U.N. base in Kidal, north Mali on Friday that killed six peacekeepers, the SITE Intelligence Group said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.people.com/article/columbine-shooter-mom-speaks-son-massacre-diane-sawyer">Mother of Columbine Shooter Speaks Out Nearly 17 Years After Massacre</a><br />For nearly two decades, Sue Klebold has tried to wrap her head around why her son 17-year-old Dylan, along with Eric Harris, 18, killed 13 people in a mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. <br /><br /><b>PODCAST</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/home/2016/2/10/iraqi-military-challenges-opportunities">Iraqi Military: Challenges &amp; Opportunities</a><br />Nate Rabkin comes back on the show to discuss the Iraqi Security Forces and their ongoing efforts to retake territory that is controlled by the Islamic State. Some of the topics covered include effects of coalition efforts on the situation and places where Iraqi forces have made substantial progress. <i>By Karl Morand with Nate Rabkin</i>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><i>Buy the new book </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG" style="font-style: italic;">ISIS: The State of Terror</a><i> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. </i><br /><br /><i>Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, </i><a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH" style="font-style: italic;">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-43809396900941783832016-02-08T09:19:00.004-08:002016-02-08T09:19:56.805-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 2/8/16<b>ISIS: THE STATE OF TERROR</b><br /><b><i><br /></i></b><i>ISIS: The State of Terror</i>, by Jessica Stern and INTELWIRE's J.M. Berger, is now <a href="http://amzn.to/1W7cUY6">available in paperback</a>, with a new afterword on its strategy and global terrorist attacks. The book was also selected as a <a href="http://www.wsjplus.com/offers/books-feb">February book of the month</a> by WSJ+, as part of a special package deal which includes a 35 percent discount.<br /><b><br /></b><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/02/03/465387359/thousands-of-foreign-fighters-still-join-isis-despite-visible-defeats">Thousands Of Foreign Fighters Still Join ISIS Despite Visible Defeats</a><br />ISIS has lost a lot of territory but that hasn't translated into a loss of supporters. The reason: the group has convinced its followers that defeat is part of a larger plan.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-battle-of-aleppo-is-the-center-of-the-syrian-chessboard">The Battle of Aleppo Is the Center of the Syrian Chessboard</a><br />On February 2, the Syrian army and its allies succeeded in cutting the northern road between Aleppo city and Turkey, known as the Azaz corridor. Although the battle was a local affair involving a relatively small number of fighters, it may prove to be a turning point in the war.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/02/02/inside-the-kurdish-fighting-forces-the-u-s-s-proxy-ground-troops-in-the-war-against-isis/?tid=sm_tw">Inside the Kurdish fighting forces: the U.S.’s proxy ground troops in the war against ISIS</a><br />With the fight against the Islamic State in its second year, American forces and their peshmerga counterparts have become deeply entwined. Both are preparing for a battle to retake the large northern city of Mosul, an Islamic State stronghold about 30 miles away. It is an operation likely to require bloody house-to-house combat.<br /><br /><a href="https://news.vice.com/article/marketing-against-isis-us-state-department-enlists-students-to-fight-terror?utm_source=vicenewstwitter">Marketing Against ISIS: US State Department Enlists Students to Fight Terror</a><br />Last week, for the third semester in a row, the State Department hosted the P2P: Challenging Extremism finals in Washington. It's the culmination of an international "peer to peer" marketing contest that enlists students to combat extremism using the latest advertising techniques.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/02/03-experts-weigh-in-isis-governance-altamimi-mccants#.VrIKyoRIxGE.twitter">Experts weigh in (part 2): Is ISIS good at governing?</a><br />Aymenn al-Tamimi, a Jihad-Intel research fellow at the Middle East Forum, argues that internal documents show increasing challenges for the Islamic State. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/islamic-state-is-no-longer-so-formidable-on-the-battlefield/2016/02/06/26d6c8e4-c6a7-11e5-b933-31c93021392a_story.html?tid=ss_tw"><br /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/islamic-state-is-no-longer-so-formidable-on-the-battlefield/2016/02/06/26d6c8e4-c6a7-11e5-b933-31c93021392a_story.html?tid=ss_tw">Islamic State is no longer so formidable on the battlefield</a><br />The Islamic State’s recent defeats on the battlefield signal that its once-vaunted militia army has been hobbled by worsening money problems, desertions and a dwindling pool of fighters, analysts and monitoring groups say.<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-schools-idUSKCN0VG0J4"><br /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-schools-idUSKCN0VG0J4">In Aleppo, underground schools face bombardments and burnout</a><br />At the unofficial schools run by Syrian activist group Kesh Malek in opposition-held districts of Aleppo, the children don't go outside to play during breaks in case a barrel bomb should drop from the sky.<br /><br /><a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/boko-harams-female-suicide-bombers-terrorize-nigeria-15102">Boko Haram’s Female Suicide Bombers Terrorize Nigeria</a><br />A recent attack included armed fighters, some wearing military uniforms and female suicide bombers. Nearby, Boko Haram raided a camp for internally displaced persons.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/moderate-syrian-rebel-factions-face-wipe-out/3180474.html">Moderate Syrian Rebel Factions Face Wipe-Out</a><br />The sweeping Russian-backed offensive in northern Syria by President Bashar al-Assad’s military and foreign fighters from Iran, Lebanon and Afghanistan is triggering a humanitarian crisis by propelling thousands of civilians to flee to the Turkish border, say political activists and rebel commanders. And the daunting offensive is altering dramatically the balance of insurgent forces in the north of the country to the benefit of al-Qaida-linked groups and the Islamic State.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/wayne-county/local-man-accused-of-supporting-isis-planning-terror-attack-at-detroit-church">Local man accused of supporting ISIS, planning terror attack at Detroit church</a><br />A local man is accused of being a supporter of ISIS and planning a terror attack against a Detroit church, according to an affidavit that has been filed in federal court.<br /><b><br />TERROR WATCH</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://voxpol.eu/al-shabaab-returns-to-twitter/?platform=hootsuite">Al-Shabaab returns to Twitter</a><br />On Thursday 21st January 2015, al-Shabaab attacked the Lido Beach area of Mogadishu in the heart of Somalia. For those following the attacks online, it was a surprise to see the emergence of a new Twitter account claiming to be a spokesperson for the terrorist group.<br /><br /><a href="http://kstp.com/article/stories/s4038373.shtml">Federal Government Fails to Fund Fight Against Terror Recruitment</a><br />At a time when terrorists in Syria and Somalia continue to target Minnesota as one of their most fertile recruiting grounds, the U.S. government is failing to fund youth programs in the Twin Cities that are intended to counter violent extremism<br /><br /><a href="http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/02/01/minnesota-to-award-programs-250k-to-prevent-terror-recruiting/#.VrCtedmeG4A.twitter">Minnesota To Award Programs $250K To Prevent Terror Recruiting</a><br />The Department of Public Safety will soon start the process of awarding $250,000 to programs designed to combat terror recruiting in Minnesota.<a href="http://blog.adl.org/extremism/robert-lavoy-finicum-the-making-of-a-martyr"><br /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.adl.org/extremism/robert-lavoy-finicum-the-making-of-a-martyr">Robert “LaVoy” Finicum: The Making of a Martyr</a><br />The death of Finicum unfor­tu­nately pro­vided adher­ents of the so-called “Patriot” move­ment (which includes mili­tia groups, sov­er­eign cit­i­zens, and other anti-government extrem­ists) with some­thing that author­i­ties had hoped to avoid: a poten­tial mar­tyr around whom anti-government extrem­ists could rally.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/white-supremacist-admits-plotting-to-start-race-war-by-attacking-black-churches-and-synagogues-a6856801.html">White supremacist admits plotting to start 'race war' by attacking black churches and synagogues</a><br />A white supremacist has admitted to a court that he planned to “start a race war” - allegedly by attacking black churches and Jewish synagogues.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35466077">My search for Gaddafi's golden gun</a><br />When Libyan rebels celebrated the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the colonel's gold-plated pistol was held up as a symbol of their victory - I watched as they passed it among themselves. Four years on, I've been back to Libya to find the man with the golden gun.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.2/the-rise-of-the-sagebrush-sheriffs">The rise of the Sagebrush Sheriffs</a><br />How rural ‘constitutional’ peace officers are joining the war against the feds.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/somalia-investigates-bomb-blast-airliner-160203093935850.html">Somalia investigates possible bomb blast on airliner</a><br />Investigators were examining the cause of an explosion that blew a large hole in the fuselage of a commercial aircraft, forcing an emergency landing minutes after take-off in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/deadly-suicide-blast-hits-southwest-pakistan/3179660.html?utm_content=socialflow&amp;utm_campaign=en&amp;utm_source=voa_news&amp;utm_medium=twitter">Deadly Suicide Blast Hits Southwest Pakistan</a><br />A suspected suicide bombing in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta Saturday killed at least eight people and wounded many more, officials said.<br /><b><br />PODCASTS</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://jihadology.net/2016/02/02/jihadology-podcast-al-qaedas-franchising-strategy/">Jihadology Podcast: al-Qaeda’s Franchising Strategy</a><br />Barak Mendelsohn comes on the show to discuss his new book, The al-Qaeda Franchise: The Expansion of al-Qaeda and Its Consequences. Some of the topics covered include how organizations expand, why AQ decided to branch out and the strategy behind that decision, and AQ’s choices on where to expand. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Barak Mendelsohn</i>.<br /><br /><i>Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. </i><br /><i><br /></i><i>Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-32988944159664346552016-02-01T09:29:00.002-08:002016-02-01T09:29:16.134-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 2/1/15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2016/01/27-islamic-state-challenges-alqaida-lister">Jihadi rivalry: The Islamic State challenges al-Qaida</a><br />International jihad has undergone a wholesale internal revolution in recent years. The dramatic emergence of the Islamic State (IS) and its proclamation of a Caliphate means that the world no longer faces one Sunni jihadi threat, but two, as IS and al-Qaida compete on the global stage. <i>By Charles Lister</i>.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/letters-from-a-serial-killer--inside-the-unabomber-archive-234543736.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&amp;soc_trk=tw">Letters from a serial killer: Inside the Unabomber archive</a><br />It has been almost 20 years since Ted Kaczynski’s trail of terror came to an end. Now a huge trove of his personal writings has come to light, revealing the workings of his mind — and the life he leads behind bars.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30528918">Swedish neo-Nazis: Moves to de-radicalise amid far-right rise</a><br />Sweden is still home to an active and at times violent neo-Nazi movement, and there are fears that rising popularity of the Sweden Democrats will also benefit the extremists.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hundreds-of-masked-men-beat-refugee-children-in-stockholm-a6843451.html">'Hundreds' of masked men beat refugee children in Stockholm</a><br />Hundreds of masked men marched through Stockholm's main train station on Friday evening, reportedly beating up refugees and anyone who didn't appear to be ethnically Swedish.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-nusra-insight-idUSKCN0V90BZ?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=topNews&amp;utm_source=twitter">Syrian rebel splits deepen after failed 'merger' with al Qaeda arm</a><br />The leader of al Qaeda's Syrian wing tried unsuccessfully at a recent meeting to convince rival Islamist factions to merge into one unit, several insurgency sources have told Reuters.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/26/us/milwaukee-masonic-temple-mass-shooting-planned-charges/index.html">FBI: Milwaukee man planned mass shooting at Masonic temple</a><br />A 23-year-old Milwaukee man charged with illegally possessing machine guns had planned a massacre at a Masonic temple in the city, federal officials said Tuesday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/01/post_4.html#incart_maj-story-1">Oregon standoff: Most phone and Internet service for occupiers ends, supporter says</a><br />As the anti-government standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge entered its 30th day, the remaining occupiers claimed many of their phone lines no longer worked.<br /><b><br /></b><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/boko-haram-burns-kids-alive-in-northeast-nigeria-witness/2016/01/31/f8a4638c-c80e-11e5-b9ab-26591104bb19_story.html?tid=ss_tw-bottom">Boko Haram burns kids alive in Nigeria, 86 dead: officials</a><br />A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb huts and heard the screams of children burning to death, among 86 people officials say died in the latest attack by Nigeria’s homegrown Islamic extremists.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/31/middleeast/syria-damascus-explosions/index.html">ISIS claims responsibility for deadly blasts in Damascus suburb</a><br />ISIS claimed responsibility for a triple bombing Sunday that killed at least 45 people and injured more than 100 others in a Damascus suburb, according to a statement circulating online from supporters of the terrorist group.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/01/26/experts-count-missteps-in-fighting-islamic-radicalism.htm">Experts Count Missteps in Fighting Islamic Radicalism</a><br />With the self-proclaimed Islamic State promising more carnage abroad as the Syrian conflict rages into its fifth year, the United States is grappling to understand the extent of homegrown radicalism here and how to address it.<br /><br /><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/photos-show-jihadi-john-unmasked-warzone/story?id=36530981">New Photos Show 'Jihadi John' Unmasked in Warzone</a><br />“Jihadi John,” identified as British national Mohammed Emwazi, was confirmed dead by the terror group in a magazine last week, felled by a drone strike on his vehicle. U.S. officials said in November they believed Emwazi had been killed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/01/28-experts-weigh-in-al-qaida-isis-watts-mccants">Experts weigh in (part 2): What is the future of al-Qaida and the Islamic State?</a><br />Clint Watts reflects on where we are in the fight against al-Qaida and its bête noire, the Islamic State.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/01/world/middleeast/suicide-bombings-kill-at-least-45-near-damascus.html?ribbon-ad-idx=3&amp;rref=world/middleeast&amp;module=Ribbon&amp;version=context&amp;region=Header&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=Middle%20East&amp;pgtype=article">Syria Peace Talks Inch Ahead as Bombings Near Damascus Continue</a><br />As a suicide attack killed more than 40 people near a revered shrine in Syria on Sunday and government forces pummeled a besieged town, peace talks inched forward in Geneva, where a reluctant opposition delegation met for the first time with a United Nations mediator.<br /><b><br /></b><b>PODCASTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/home/2016/1/25/how-the-fight-against-the-islamic-state-is-being-covered">How the Fight Against the Islamic State Is Being Covered</a><span id="goog_1280223958"></span><span id="goog_1280223959"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />Charlie Winter comes back on the show to discuss how the Islamic State, and the campaign against them, is being covered. Some of the topics discussed include how the fight against the Islamic State is covered in the media and political discourse, differences in how the Islamic State is covered and discussed in the US vs the UK, and the focus on military solutions at the expense of political and diplomatic ones. <i>By Karl Morand with Charlie Winter.</i><br /><br /><a href="https://overcast.fm/+Doi77iCPA">Covert Contact: Iran’s Quest for Regional Domination</a><br />Phillip Smyth joins the show to discuss Iran's detention of 10 American sailors and the avalanche of terrible analysis that it triggered, Iran’s quest for regional domination, and its use of proxies to further those aims.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.njhomelandsecurity.gov/episode-2-one-on-one-with-author-jm-berger">Intelligence Unclassed: Episode 2 with J.M. Berger</a><br />J.M. Berger discusses social media tactics and messaging by both foreign and domestic terrorist groups.<br /><i><br /></i><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-- INTELWIRE Staff</i></div><br /><b>NOTE FROM J.M.&nbsp;</b><br /><b><br /></b>I visited the Netherlands and Denmark last week, speaking at a number of venues including the Royal Danish Defense College, top, the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague (center, with Prof. Dr. Edwin Bakker, left, and director Mark Singleton, right), and the University of Utrecht, below, pictured with Dr. Beatrice de Graaf. I had a great time meeting so many people with sharp insights, and I received a ton of hospitality. Thanks to all involved!<br /><b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iUGsi0_eujI/Vq-Ts-dDmQI/AAAAAAADD9Q/silHoWNBU5Y/s1600/copenhagen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iUGsi0_eujI/Vq-Ts-dDmQI/AAAAAAADD9Q/silHoWNBU5Y/s320/copenhagen2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xdQe7EsPVyo/Vq-T41vINAI/AAAAAAADD9Y/y1i0M4N4SMA/s1600/CZzxLh_WwAAMAnD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xdQe7EsPVyo/Vq-T41vINAI/AAAAAAADD9Y/y1i0M4N4SMA/s320/CZzxLh_WwAAMAnD.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-61EVnRzi3IQ/Vq-TeZCO4WI/AAAAAAADD9I/xp2x8iMlWTM/s1600/utrecht2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-61EVnRzi3IQ/Vq-TeZCO4WI/AAAAAAADD9I/xp2x8iMlWTM/s320/utrecht2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><i>Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-28636820138963440762016-01-25T13:37:00.001-08:002016-01-25T13:37:08.586-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 1/25/16<b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://jcr.sagepub.com/content/59/3/401">Killing Range: Explaining Lethality Variance within a Terrorist Organization</a><br />This paper presents an analysis of the Provisional Irish Republican Army's (PIRA) brigade level behavior during the Northern Ireland Conflict (1970-1998) and identifies the organizational factors that impact a brigade's lethality as measured via terrorist attacks. <i>By Victor Asal, Paul Gill, R. Karl Rethemeyer and John Horgan</i>.<br /><br /><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/france-attacks-islamicstate-idUSKCN0V308N">Islamic State video purports to show Paris attackers, threatens Britain</a><br />A video published on Sunday by the media centre of Islamic State purported to show images and last statements of nine of the people who took part in the Paris attacks that killed 130 people on Nov. 13.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/01/22/463861480/what-does-it-mean-if-an-attack-is-isis-inspired?utm_campaign=storyshare&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social">What Does It Mean If An Attack Is 'ISIS-Inspired'?</a><br />Today's violent jihadist threat is very different from those associated with al-Qaida in the past. ISIS followers appear more troubled and more confused about their intentions and motivations than their al-Qaida predecessors.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/al-shabab-not-joining-isis-418656?rx=us">Why Al-Shabab is not joining ISIS</a><br />Despite rumors of a growing ISIS presence in Somalia, East Africa’s main militant group is sticking with Al-Qaeda.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/al-qaida-and-the-islamic-state-benefit-as-yemen-war-drags-on">Al Qaeda and the Islamic State benefit as Yemen war drags on</a><br />Both groups vie for recruits and territory, and their competition could also spark attacks outside of Yemen as AQAP and the Islamic State attempt to demonstrate that they, and not their rival, are at the forefront of the jihadi movement. <i>By Gregory D. Johnson</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/19/europe/escaping-isis-paris-attacker-radicalized-teen/">Escaping ISIS: How French teen got free of terrorist recruiters</a><br />Thanks to her mother's intervention, Joanna is now one of the youngest participants in France's program (Centre de Prévention contre les Dérives Sectaires liées à l'islam, translated as Prevention Center against Sectarianism related to Islam) to bring Muslims back from the brink of radicalization.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-jakarta-attack-and-the-islamic-state-threat-to-indonesia">The Jakarta attack and the Islamic State threat to Indoneisa</a><br />The January 14 attack in Jakarta shows the growing military capacity of Islamic State supporters in Indonesia. It also reveals the important role played by key Indonesians in Syria as a link to militant jihadis back home providing direction, possible finance and, above all, tapping into local grievances over the actions of the Indonesian state and police. <i>By Kirsten E. Schulze</i>.<br /><div><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b></div><div><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-hotel-attacks-and-militant-realignment-in-the-sahara-sahel-region">The Hotel Attacks and militant realignment in the Sahara-Sahel Region</a><br />The attack on Bamako’s Radisson Blu Hotel in November 2015 shocked Mali and confirmed the reach of jihadist group al-Mourabitoun and the continued challenges to security in the region. The attack also marked the absorption of al-Mourabitoun into al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) amid tests to AQIM’s position from fighters who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. <i>By Andrew Lebovich</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/world/middleeast/dispute-over-oppositions-seat-at-table-threatens-to-push-back-syria-peace-talks.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0">Dispute Over Opposition’s Seat at Table Threatens to Push Back Syria Peace Talks</a><br />Barely a month after the world’s most powerful countries agreed to an ambitious road map to end the five-year-old war in Syria, there is still no agreement on who, if anyone, will show up at the peace talks that are supposed to begin in Geneva Monday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/seattle-man-charged-murder-terrorism-case-charged-/np8Rc/#st_refDomain=t.co&amp;st_refQuery=/GO9bbKHqCn">Seattle man charged in murder-terrorism case sentenced for robbery</a><br />A Seattle man – charged with a terrorism count for allegedly killing a New Jersey college student because he was angry about U.S. foreign policy – was sentenced Wednesday in an unrelated armed robbery case after refusing to take part in a court hearing.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper">Unfollow</a><br />How a prized daughter of the Westboro Baptist Church came to question its beliefs.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/21/world/asia/bacha-khan-university-attack-charsadda.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=a-lede-package-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0">Taliban Attack at Bacha Khan University in Pakistan Renews Fears</a><br />On Wednesday, Pakistanis were drawn back into their national nightmare. At least four Taliban attackers stormed a university campus in another northwestern town, gunning down at least 20 people, most of them students and teachers.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/asia/kabul-suicide-bombing/index.html">Suicide bomber targets media bus, kills 7 in heart of Kabul</a><br />A suicide attacker on a motorcycle set off a deadly explosion near a bus carrying media professionals on Wednesday in the heart of Afghanistan's capital, officials said.<br /><br /><b>PODCAST</b><br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2016/01/20/jihadology-podcast-islamic-state-networks-in-turkey/">Jihadology Podcast: Islamic State Networks In Turkey</a><br />Aaron Stein comes on the show to talk about IS networks in Turkey. Some of the topics covered include how IS developed its network inside Turkey, recent attacks in Ankara and Istanbul and the networks behind them, and how these attacks have affected Turkish governmental policy. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Aaron Stein</i>.<br /><br /><div><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-17101410315468097592016-01-18T08:09:00.001-08:002016-01-18T08:09:21.248-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 1/18/16: New ISIS Research, AQIM, Latest Terror Attacks<b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/ResearchNote29-Zelin.pdf">The Islamic State’s Territorial Methodology</a><br />Since June 2014, when the Islamic State proclaimed itself a caliphate, a pattern has emerged in&nbsp;the way IS has attempted to expand, take over new territory, and then consolidate its control.&nbsp;The pattern is partly explained by IS’s systematizing, bureaucratizing, and formalizing&nbsp;of its governance structures, which allow it to operate consistently and in parallel across its various&nbsp;wilayat (provinces). <i>By Aaron Zelin</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2016/01/boko-haram-ideology-thurston">‘The disease is unbelief’: Boko Haram’s religious and political worldview</a><br />The Nigerian jihadi group Boko Haram has killed over 15,000 people, disrupted governance, and caused a humanitarian emergency in Nigeria and the surrounding countries. While its ideology is often described as opposition to democracy and rejection of Western-style education, its theology and politics encompass more than hatred for Western influence. <i>By Alex Thurston</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sicurezzaterrorismosocieta.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Vergani-Bliuc_SicTerSoc_book-2.pdf">The evolution of the ISIS’ language: a quantitative analysis of the language of the first year of Dabiq magazine</a><br />First, our analysis showed that affiliation seems to be an increasingly important psychological motive for the group. Secondly, ISIS has been increasingly using emotions, which are an important mobilizing factor in collective action literature, in a strategic manner. Thirdly, ISIS language presents an increasing concern with females. Last but not least, our analysis shows that ISIS has been increasingly using internet jargon. <i>By Matteo Vergani and Ana-Maria Bliuc</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://andrewzammit.org/2016/01/17/internal-assessments-of-terrorism-studies/">Internal Assessments of Terrorism Studies</a><br />Notes on the fields of terrorism studies, civil war studies, and social movement studies, looking at assessments from both people within these fields and people outside of them. <i>By Andrew Zammit</i>.<br /><br /><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.aymennjawad.org/2016/01/archive-of-islamic-state-administrative-documents-1">Internal Documents Show ISIS Slashed Fighter Salaries</a><br /><div>"So on account of the exceptional circumstances the Islamic State is facing, it has been decided to reduce the salaries that are paid to all mujahideen by half, and it is not allowed for anyone to be exempted from this decision, whatever his position." <i>Obtained and translated&nbsp;by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.</i></div><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/world/middleeast/a-news-agency-with-scoops-directly-from-isis-and-a-veneer-of-objectivity.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0">A News Agency With Scoops Directly From ISIS, and a Veneer of Objectivity</a><br />In several terrorist attacks, an outlet called the Amaq News Agency was first with the news that the Islamic State was going to claim responsibility. The agency has been getting the scoops because it gets tips straight from ISIS.&nbsp;By <i>Rukmini Callimachi</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/09/sophie-kasiki-isis-raqqa-child-radicalised?CMP=twt_gu">‘I went to join Isis in Syria, taking my four-year-old. It was a journey into hell’</a><br />Sophie Kasiki is one of the few women to escape from Raqqa, the stronghold of Islamic State.<br /><br /><a href="http://thediplomat.com/2016/01/beyond-the-bombings-assessing-the-islamic-state-threat-in-southeast-asia/">Beyond Bombings: The Islamic State in Southeast Asia</a><br />While hostage taking, executions and barricade style attacks garner less concern from security services than bombings, this is potentially an important development at both the tactical and strategic levels for Southeast Asian militants. If we are to understand the real impact of ISIL on Southeast Asian militancy, it is this.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/world/asia/jakarta-explosion.html">Jakarta Attack Raises Fears of ISIS’ Spread in Southeast Asia</a><br />The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack in the Indonesian capital on Thursday, raising the specter of an expanded presence by the group in Southeast Asia.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesia-to-strengthen-anti-terror-law-following-jakarta-attacks">Indonesia to strengthen anti-terror law following Jakarta attacks</a><br />Indonesia plans to strengthen its anti- terror law this year to give police greater powers of arrest, following last week's attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the capital.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/world/middleeast/in-libya-us-courts-unreliable-allies-to-counter-isis.html?ref=africa">In Libya, U.S. Courts Unreliable Allies to Counter ISIS</a><br />Counterterrorism officials regard the Libyan branch as the Islamic State’s most dangerous affiliate, one that is expanding its territory and continuing to mount deadly attacks, including several this month. But to stop its advance, the United States and its European allies have been forced to court unreliable allies from among a patchwork of Libyan militias that remain unaccountable, poorly organized and divided by region and tribe.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/istanbul-suicide-bomber-went-from-dental-school-to-isis#.caEWYQnY5a">Istanbul Suicide Bomber Went From Dental School To ISIS</a><br />The man who blew himself up in Istanbul on Tuesday, killing 10 people, was a former dental student and member of ISIS who may have initially planned to carry out the attack on New Year’s Eve, sources told BuzzFeed News.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/17/dozens-killed-by-islamic-state-in-massacre-in-syrian-city-of-deir-ezzor?CMP=twt_b-gdnnews">Dozens killed by Islamic State in 'massacre' in Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor</a><br />UK-based monitoring group claims 85 civilians have been killed while state media says as many as 300 died in Isis onslaught.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/world/europe/belgium-paris-attacks-safe-houses.html">ISIS Militant Returned to Belgium Before Paris Attacks</a><br />Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Islamic State militant who the authorities say helped plan the Paris terrorist attacks that killed 130 people, traveled widely across Europe in the lead-up to the attacks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Terror-Charge-New-York-Maryland-Suspect-Malik-Jones-Investigation-364895201.html">Maryland Man Faces Terror Charges in New York</a><br />A Maryland man who allegedly traveled overseas to fight alongside terrorists has been flown back to New York to face terror charges. A man known as Malik Jones -- but who also has several aliases --could appear in a New York courtroom as early as Monday afternoon.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/woodbridge-men-charged-terrorism-offenses-related-attempting-travel-syria-join-isil">Woodbridge Men Charged with Terrorism Offenses Related to Attempting to Travel to Syria to Join ISIL</a><br />Joseph Hassan Farrokh, 28, and Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 25, both of Woodbridge, were charged today for criminal activity relating to Farrokh’s attempt to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/world/africa/gunmen-attack-hotel-in-burkina-fasos-capital.html?ref=africa">At Least 20 Killed in Siege by Militants in Burkina Faso</a><br />Gunmen from Al Qaeda stormed a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in Burkina Faso’s capital on Friday night, seizing hostages and killing others while fighting with dozens of security forces who began a counterattack hours later. It was Al Qaeda’s first major attack in this landlocked sub-Saharan country, a former French colony.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-security-parliament-idUSKCN0UV0UG">Egypt's parliament endorses controversial anti-terrorism law</a><br />Egypt's parliament on Sunday overwhelmingly endorsed a controversial anti-terrorism law that sets up special courts and shields its enforcers from legal ramifications.<br /><br /><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2016/01/15/EU-plans-new-measures-against-terrorism-financing-by-February.html">EU plans new measures against terrorism financing by February</a><br />The European Commission will announce new measures in February to tackle terrorism financing, EU officials said, as part of wider efforts to prevent new attacks in Europe after the Nov. 13 shootings and bombings in Paris that killed 130 people.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/world/middleeast/revolt-network-foments-new-brand-of-jewish-terror-in-israel.html">Israel Faces New Brand of Terrorism, This Time From Young Settlers</a><br />The existence of the network, known as the Revolt for the title of its manifesto, became known about six months ago, after the arrest of several suspected members. This latest manifestation of Jewish terrorism is the creation of young extremists rebelling against what they view as the inertia of the Israeli establishment.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/deadly-blast-hits-anti-polio-centre-pakistan-160113044540957.html">Deadly suicide attack targets polio centre in Pakistan</a><br />A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a polio eradication centre in Pakistan's western city of Quetta, killing more than a dozen people in the latest deadly assault on the campaign to fight the disease in the country.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/justices-seem-divided-over-iran-terror-related-appeal/2016/01/13/f934c22a-ba16-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html">Justices seem divided over Iran terror-related appeal</a><br />More than 30 years after 241 Marines died in a terrorist attack in Beirut, the Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed putting up a new roadblock for the victims’ families who are trying to obtain nearly $2 billion in judgments against Iran.<br /><br /><b>PODCASTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/home/2016/1/11/libyas-fragile-unity-agreement">Libya's Fragile Unity Agreement</a><br />Mary Fitzgerald comes back on the show to discuss the latest attempts to bring an end to the conflict in Libya. Some of the topics we covered include background on the unity agreement that was signed in December, challenges the new unity government is already facing, and the new UN envoy's determination to make the unity agreement work. <i>By Karl Morand with Mary Fitzgerald.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2016/01/12/jihadology-podcast-the-malian-jihadi-landscape/">Jihadology Podcast: The Malian Jihadi Landscape</a><br />Andrew Lebovich comes on the show to discuss the various jihadi groups that have been active in Mali over the past few years. Some of the topics covered include the political process in Mali after the French intervention, why there has been a rise in violence recently, and why IS has not been able to penetrate Mali like many of the other jihadi zones. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Andrew Lebovich</i>.<br /><div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-59318904354509640932016-01-11T09:53:00.003-08:002016-01-11T09:58:26.793-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 1/11/2016, Misinfo, Malheur, ISIS Updates, More<b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><div><br /><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/01/02/1517441113">The spreading of misinformation online</a><br />The wide availability of user-provided content in online social media facilitates the aggregation of people around common interests, worldviews, and narratives. However, the World Wide Web (WWW) also allows for the rapid dissemination of unsubstantiated rumors and conspiracy theories that often elicit rapid, large, but naive social responses such as the recent case of Jade Helm 15––where a simple military exercise turned out to be perceived as the beginning of a new civil war in the United States. <i>By Michela Del Vicario, Alessandro Bessi, Fabiana Zollo, Fabio Petroni, Antonio Scala, Guido Caldarelli, H. Eugene Stanley, and Walter Quattrociocchi</i>.<br /><br /><b>OREGON OCCUPATION&nbsp;</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/oregon-ranchers-radical-ideology-213514">What Do the Oregon Ranchers Really Believe?</a><br />A field guide to their radical, diverse—and often contradictory—ideologies. <i>By J.M. Berger</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/01/09/462481092/oregon-occupiers-bolster-cause-of-other-anti-government-militants?utm_campaign=storyshare&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social">Oregon Occupiers Bolster Cause Of Other Anti-Government Militants</a><br />There's growing concern among former federal land managers that the government's inaction against one Nevada rancher is helping the cause of armed anti-government militants elsewhere in the West.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/oregon_standoff_idaho_militia.html">Oregon standoff: Idaho group arrives to 'secure perimeter, prevent Waco-style situation'</a><br />Members of a group from outside Oregon arrived on Friday at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to "secure a perimeter" around the compound and prevent "a Waco-style situation."<br /><b><br /></b><b>ISIS WATCH</b></div><div><br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/11/gunman-kill-10-in-baghdad-mall-take-hostages-iraqi-officials-say.html">Gunmen storm Iraqi mall, killing at least 18 and wounding 50</a><br />Gunmen stormed into a Baghdad mall on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance, killing at least 18 people and wounding 50 in the city's mainly Shiite east, Iraqi officials said.<br /><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/11/why-the-u-s-can-t-make-a-magazine-like-isis.html?via=desktop&amp;source=twitter">Why the U.S. Can’t Make a Magazine Like ISIS</a><br />ISIS’s propaganda success isn’t just online. Its magazine, Dabiq, is read all over the world. If only the U.S. government was so creative and effective. <i>By Clint Watts and Will McCants</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pennsylvania-police-shooter-idUSKCN0UP01420160111?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=domesticNews">Philadelphia police probe possible extremist ties in police shooting</a><br />Philadelphia police said on Sunday they were seriously pursuing a tip that the man suspected of shooting and wounding a police officer had ties to a group with "radical beliefs."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20160106-france-paris-attacks-syria-warned-rock-concert-target-bataclan?ns_campaign=reseaux_sociaux&amp;ns_source=twitter&amp;ns_mchannel=social&amp;ns_linkname=editorial&amp;aef_campaign_ref=partage_user&amp;aef_campaign_date=2016-01-06">Frenchman returning from Syria warned of attack at rock concert</a><br />Months before the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, which included a siege at the Bataclan venue, a Parisian who had returned from Syria told French intelligence that the Islamic State group was planning to attack a rock concert, according to French media.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/07/australian-isis-sympathiser-preaching-online-again-after-2014-arrest">Australian Isis sympathiser preaching online again after 2014 arrest</a><br />Musa Cerantonio participated in an online event on 25 December hosted by Abdullah el-Faisal, a Jamaican champion of Isis who served four years in a British prison for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-video-idUSKBN0UJ0ZN20160105?utm_source=twitter">Militant in Islamic State video believed to be British bouncy castle salesman</a><br />The masked militant in an Islamic State video showing the killing of five men accused by the group of being Western spies is believed to be a Londoner known as Sid who once sold inflatable bouncy castles.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-administration-plans-shake-up-in-propaganda-war-against-the-islamic-state/2016/01/08/d482255c-b585-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html?tid=ss_tw">Obama administration plans shake-up in propaganda war against ISIS</a><br />The Obama administration is overhauling its faltering efforts to combat the online propaganda of the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, U.S. officials said, reflecting rising White House frustration with largely ineffective efforts so far to cut into ISIS’s use of social media to draw recruits and incite attacks.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH&nbsp;</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/05/irans-martyrdom-machine-springs-to-life/">Iran’s Martyrdom Machine Springs to Life</a><br />Saudi Arabia's execution of a Shiite cleric has put the Middle East on edge — and set up Tehran for its favorite role. <i>By Philip Smyth</i><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/01/07/does-twitter-bridge-the-sunni-shiite-divide-or-make-it-worse/"><br />Does Twitter bridge the Sunni-Shiite divide or make it worse?</a><br />From fiery sermons to diplomatic spars, Twitter is abuzz with derogatory anti-Shiite and anti-Sunni rhetoric.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fighting-terrorism-takes-more-than-drones/2016/01/07/6786c68e-b3f4-11e5-a76a-0b5145e8679a_story.html?postshare=7161452218279200&amp;tid=ss_tw">America may have unlocked a key to fighting terrorism — and it doesn’t involve drones</a><br />Speaking to graduating West Point cadets in 2014, the president announced the creation of the Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund (CTPF). <br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35268713?ocid=socialflow_facebook&amp;ns_mchannel=social&amp;ns_campaign=bbcnews&amp;ns_source=facebook">Egypt attack: Three tourists stabbed at Hurghada hotel</a><br />Three foreign tourists have been stabbed by two suspected Islamic State militants who stormed into a hotel in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sacramento-security-idUSKBN0UM02W20160109?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=domesticNews">Republican politicians jumped the gun on terrorism suspect's arrest: sources</a><br />Two Texas politicians made public details of an investigation into a terrorism suspect while it was still in progress, potentially jeopardizing the inquiry, three sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.<br /><br /><b>PODCASTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/">Iran-Saudi Arabia Conflict and Its Regional Effects</a><br />Phillip Smyth comes on the show to discuss many issues surrounding the current Iran-Saudi Arabia tensions, covering a variety of topics, particularly on the Iranian and Shia side of the conflict, such as: The regional reactions and effects of the current crisis, detailed background on Nimr al-Nimr, and Iran's desire to represent all Shia. <i>By Karl Morand with Phillip Smyth</i>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-28852537448842639842016-01-04T11:33:00.002-08:002016-01-04T11:33:35.527-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 12/21/15 - 1/4/15<b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117259">Contagion in Mass Killings and School Shootings</a><br />There is significant evidence that mass killings involving firearms are incented by similar events in the immediate past. On average, this temporary increase in probability lasts 13 days, and each incident incites at least 0.30 new incidents. There is also significant evidence of contagion in school shootings, for which an incident is contagious for an average of 13 days, and incites an average of at least 0.22 new incidents. <i>By Sherry Towers, Andres Gomez-Lievano, Maryam Khan, Anuj Mubayi, and Carlos Castillo-Chavez</i>.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Held-Hostagereportc2.pdf">Held Hostage: Analyses of Kidnapping Across Time and Among Jihadist Organizations</a><br />This report examines trends related to the kidnapping of Westerners by jihadist groups. The report relies on a newly gathered open-source dataset of the kidnapping of Westerners from 2001–2015. <i>By Seth Loertscher and Daniel Milton</i>.<br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-islamic-state-in-southern-syria"><br /></a><a href="http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/475/html">Eyewitness Accounts from Recent Defectors from Islamic State: Why They Joined, What They Saw, Why They Quit</a><br />This Research Note reports on preliminary results of the Islamic State Interviews Project, based here on a sample of thirteen Syrian IS defectors who spoke on life inside the “Islamic State”(IS).&nbsp;<i>By Anne Speckhard and Ahmet S. Yayla.</i><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-islamic-state-in-southern-syria"></a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-islamic-state-in-southern-syria">The Islamic State in Southern Syria</a><br />Despite the current focus on the north and east, the southern theater could be more important to the outcome of the Syrian civil war. <i>By Aaron Y. Zelin and Oula A. Alrifai</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01402390.2015.1121871?journalCode=fjss20">Making Jihad or Making Money? Understanding the Transformation of Dagestan’s Jamaats into Organised Crime Groups</a><br />Using unique ethnographic data from Russia’s Dagestan, this article explores the causes and contexts of the gradual transformation of some of Dagestan’s jihadist units – jamaats – into organised crime groups collaborating with local authorities. <i>By Emil Aslan Souleimanov</i>.<br /><br /><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/sunni-fighters-help-hold-ramadi-as-army-pursues-is-holdouts/3124106.html">Iraqi Forces Find More IS 'Pockets of Resistance' in Ramadi</a><br />Iraqi forces trying to clear Ramadi after seizing the city from Islamic State militants are meeting with heavier resistance than first anticipated.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/opinion/sunday/militant-jihads-softer-side.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&amp;smtyp=cur&amp;_r=2">The Soft Power of Militant Jihad</a><br />For radical Islamists who view crying as a sign of devotion to God, communal sobbing is as common as car bombing. <i>By Thomas Hegghammer</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/world/middleeast/isis-recruitment-killer-hassan-aboud.html">Behind the Black Flag: The Recruitment of an ISIS Killer</a><br />Since the Syrian rebel leader Hassan Aboud joined ISIS, taking with him fighters and weapons, he has been behind a sprawling mix of battlefield action and crime.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/suicide-bombing-isil-soldiers-tikrit-haditha-iraq-160103140922272.html">Suicide attacks kill dozens of troops in Iraq</a><br />ISIL bombers blamed for attacks on military base near Tikrit and in Haditha as battle for control of Ramadi continues.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35208669?ocid=socialflow_twitter">Munich stations evacuated over 'IS attack threat'</a><br />Police in Munich evacuated two major railway stations after an intelligence agency warned Germany of an imminent attack, officials said.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-beirut-bombings-and-the-islamic-states-threat-to-lebanon">The Beirut bombings and the Islamic State's threat to Lebanon</a><br />Although none of Lebanon’s divided communities has an interest in importing the Syrian civil war, the Islamic State is growing in strength by discarding al-Qa`ida’s rigid recruitment criteria and welcoming younger recruits attracted to its simple brand of conquest and brutality.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/isil-hits-afghan-airwaves-drum-support-151220090153031.html">ISIL hits Afghan airwaves to drum up support</a><br />The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has launched a radio station in Afghanistan to recruit fighters and stir up anti-government sentiment.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/a-frontline-report-the-ground-war-against-the-islamic-state">A Frontline Report: The ground war against the Islamic State</a><br />A recent journey through northeastern Syria and northern Iraq provided an opportunity to see the multi-faceted campaigns against the Islamic State on several fronts, the handicaps and challenges that its adversaries face, and a sense of the real progress being made in degrading the group.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/san-bernardino-and-the-islamic-state-%E2%80%A8footprint-in-america">San Bernardino and the Islamic State footprint in America</a><br />While still at a significantly lower level than seen in most Western European countries, the degree of recent Islamic State-related mobilization in the United States is unprecedented in this country, with more than 70 individuals arrested and 900 open investigations throughout the country.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/wilayat-sinai-risks-backlash-after-%E2%80%A8metrojet-bombing">Wilayat Sinai risks backlash after Metrojet bombing</a><br />The October 31 crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 in Egypt has focused global attention on the threat posed by the Islamic State’s branch in the Sinai Peninsula, which claimed responsibility.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/twice-sentenced_ranchers_expec.html#incart_most-commented_pacific-northwest-news_article">Oregon militia standoff: Ranchers due at prison and what else to expect Monday</a><br />The two father and son ranchers who triggered a national cry for justice over their convictions for arson were expected today to surrender themselves to federal prison, ending efforts of militants and fellow ranchers to spare them.<br /><br /><a href="http://warontherocks.com/2015/12/rhetoric-and-counterterrorism-what-drives-the-jihadists/">Rhetoric and counterterrorism: What drives the jihadists</a><br />Anwar al-Awlaki was by far the most successful jihadi propagandist attempting to radicalize Muslims living in the West. He had many arguments to advance this mission, but central was the notion that a discriminatory crackdown against Western Muslims was coming. Awlaki hoped that fear of such a crackdown would encourage radicalization and violence. <i>By Brian Fishman.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article51690630.html">Violent sovereign citizen plots grow in U.S. — and now go worldwide</a><br />The sovereign citizen movement, which has emerged as a key combatant in the battle against domestic terrorism in the United States, continues to swell, with violent incidents erupting on a regular basis. But authorities and experts say the exponential growth of sovereign citizens — their numbers are now estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands — isn’t strictly a U.S. phenomenon any more. The movement’s tentacles, they say, are reaching worldwide.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/politics/as-us-focuses-on-isis-and-the-taliban-al-qaeda-re-emerges.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&amp;smid=nytcore-iphone-share">As U.S. Focuses on ISIS and the Taliban, Al Qaeda Re-emerges</a><br />Even as the Obama administration scrambles to confront the Islamic State and a resurgent Taliban, an old enemy seems to be reappearing in Afghanistan: Qaeda training camps are sprouting up there, forcing the Pentagon and American intelligence agencies to assess whether they could again become a breeding ground for attacks on the United States.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/28/the-big-business-of-online-abuse.html">The Big Business of Online Abuse</a><br />For a select few, Internet harassment isn’t just a way to bully others. It’s a way to rake in the bucks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/magazine/the-price-of-secularism-in-bangladesh.html?smid=tw-share">The Imperiled Bloggers of Bangladesh</a><br />In support of gender equality, human rights and civil liberties, a group of bloggers is doing battle with Islamists online — and paying dearly for it.<br /><br /><a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62375">How Sunni-Shia Sectarianism Is Poisoning Yemen</a><br />A growing sectarian polarization in Yemen is relying on language borrowed from the Sunni-Shia conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Iran, rather than drawing on Yemeni religious culture.<br /><br /><a href="http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/01/02/terror-recruitment-video-highlights-minnesota-martyrs/#.Voqi5FkObC8.twitter">Terror Recruitment Video Highlights ‘Minnesota Martyrs’</a><br />A new video, aimed at recruiting jihad fighters, highlights Minnesotans who have left to fight with terrorists. Al-Shabaab released the 50-minute video Friday which was similar to past propaganda videos, featuring high-quality graphics and video editing to glorify fighting overseas.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35217328">Saudi Arabia breaks off ties with Iran after al-Nimr execution</a><br />Saudi Arabia says it has broken off diplomatic ties with Iran, amid a row over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kgw.com/news/investigations/fbi-70-active-terrorism-investigations-in-oregon/7382452">FBI: 70 active terrorism investigations in Oregon</a><br />The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Portland has roughly 70 active terrorism investigations in Oregon. The investigations include a broad range of cases, including Islamic State-inspired terrorism, eco-terrorism and anti-government extremists.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/02/world/africa/jihadists-deepen-collaboration-in-north-africa.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&amp;smtyp=cur">Jihadists Deepen Collaboration in North Africa</a><br />Analysts and military officials say there is deepening collaboration among groups using modern communications and a sophisticated system of roving trainers to share military tactics, media strategies and ways of transferring money.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/25/world/asia/taliban-chief-rebuked-by-religious-leaders-in-sign-of-turmoil.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&amp;smid=nytcore-iphone-share&amp;_r=0">Taliban Chief Rebuked by Religious Leaders in Sign of Turmoil</a><br />In a sign of deep political tension within the Taliban, a collection of religious leaders in the group’s headquarters in Pakistan issued a letter of rebuke last month to the new insurgent leader over his bloody crackdown on dissenting commanders.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/us/politics/internet-firms-urged-to-limit-work-of-anwar-al-awlaki.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss">Internet Firms Urged to Limit Work of Anwar al-Awlaki</a><br />In case after terrorism case, from the Fort Hood, Tex., shootings to the Boston Marathon bombing and now to the slaughter in San Bernardino, Calif., the inflammatory videos and bomb-making instructions of Anwar al-Awlaki, easily accessible on the Internet, have turned up as a powerful influence.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/us/politics/crimes-against-muslim-americans-and-mosques-rise-sharply.html?smid=tw-share">Crimes Against Muslim Americans and Mosques Rise Sharply</a><br />Hate crimes against Muslim Americans and mosques across the United States have tripled in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., with dozens occurring within just a month, according to new data.<br /><br /><a href="http://kstp.com/news/stories/S3994300.shtml?cat=1">Program Created in Minnesota to Help At-Risk Somali Youth</a><br />The non-profit organization "Youthprise" is in charge of distributing $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice and private groups. The goal is to stop young Somalis from going overseas to fight for terror groups.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/21/how-donald-trump-is-breathing-life-into-americas-dying-white-supremacist-movement/?postshare=1141450714854897&amp;tid=ss_tw">How America’s dying white supremacist movement is seizing on Donald Trump’s appeal</a><br />Rachel Pendergraft — the national organizer for the Knights Party, a standard-bearer for the Ku Klux Klan — told The Washington Post that the KKK, for one, has a new conversation starter at its disposal. You might call it a “Trump card.”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Virginia-Man-With-Ties-to-White-Supremacist-Group-Sentenced-in-Murder-for-Hire-Plot-361496521.html">Virginia Man With Ties to White Supremacist Group Sentenced in Murder for Hire Plot</a><br />The murder-for-hire case against Brumback came to light in late January after local and federal agents raided his Sterling home. They discovered many weapons and evidence that Dallas Brumback was a leader with a white supremacist group known as the Christian Identity movement.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dw.com/en/nsu-defendant-denies-providing-weapons-to-neo-nazis/a-18920675?maca=en-Twitter-sharing">NSU defendant denies providing weapons to neo-Nazis</a><br />In a statement read to a court in Munich on Wednesday, Ralf Wohlleben denied providing weapons to the National Socialist Underground (NSU) that were then used to carry out nine murders targeting people with immigrant backgrounds. A tenth murder claimed the life of a German police officer.<br /><div><br /><b>PODCAST</b><br /><br /><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/home/2015/12/23/uks-role-in-syria-recent-diplomatic-efforts">UK's Role in Syria &amp; Recent Diplomatic Efforts</a><br />Michael Stephens comes back on the show to discuss the United Kingdom's efforts to fight the Islamic State in Syria, as well as the latest developments in the diplomatic process seeking to bring an end to the conflict. <i>By Karl Morand with Michael Stephens.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2015/12/21/jihadology-podcast-a-history-of-lebanese-sunni-jihadism/">Jihadology Podcast: A History of Lebanese Sunni Jihadism</a><br />Bernard Rougier comes on the show to discuss Lebanese Sunni jihadism. Some of the topics covered include how Lebanese first got involved in jihadism in Afghanistan in the 1980s and the role the Iraq war played in the mobilization and recruitment of a new generation. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Bernard Rougier.</i><br /><i><br /></i><a href="http://jihadology.net/2015/12/15/jihadology-podcast-reality-of-the-islamic-states-finances-and-economy/">Jihadology Podcast: Reality of The Islamic State’s Finances and Economy</a><br />Aymenn al-Tamimi comes on the show for an in-depth discussion of the Islamic State’s finances and economic situation. Some of the topics covered include IS funding prior to 2013, how IS funding compares to AQ, and the evolution of IS’ economy in the past year and a half. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Aymenn al-Tamimi</i>.<br /><i><br /></i><i>Buy the new book </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG" style="font-style: italic;">ISIS: The State of Terror</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-25784520521766639932015-12-14T09:15:00.002-08:002015-12-31T07:56:16.720-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 12/14/15. ISIS in Yemen, More US Arrests, KKK's 'Slick' Propaganda and More <b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/12/isis-containment-george-kennan/419625/">Containing ISIS: What Would George Kennan Do?</a><br />Barry Posen rightly argues for a containment strategy. But just as important as what to do is what to avoid.&nbsp;<i>By Jessica Stern.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/world/middleeast/islamic-state-gains-strength-in-yemen-rivaling-al-qaeda.html?_r=1">Islamic State Gains Strength in Yemen, Rivaling Al Qaeda</a><br />Nine months of war between a Saudi-led military coalition and a Yemeni rebel group have left thousands of civilians dead, a nation gravely polarized and the land strewn with debris, mines and unexploded bombs.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/sophisticated-is-recruitment-methods-lured-jordanian-woman/2015/12/12/24eda30c-a110-11e5-9ad2-568d814bbf3b_story.html?postshare=4531449960803506&amp;tid=ss_tw">Sophisticated IS recruitment methods lured Jordanian woman</a><br />A Jordanian woman who came close to joining the Islamic State group described a sophisticated 14-month recruitment process by the extremists that she said landed her in a secret IS compound in Turkey with dozens of other women.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2015/1204/What-a-leaked-Thai-police-document-says-about-ISIS-in-Southeast-Asia?cmpid=TW">What a leaked Thai police document says about ISIS in Southeast Asia</a><br />A document released in Thailand reveals a new plot by Islamic State to target Russian tourists in Thailand.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fox9.com/news/57059707-story">10th ISIS terror suspect a surprise to Twin Cities Somali community</a><br />To prosecutors, Abdirizak Warsame is the 10th Minnesota man to face terror charges for conspiring to join ISIS, but to people in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, he is the last person they expected to get into trouble.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article49435335.html">Judge orders psychiatric evaluation for Cuban ISIS sympathizer</a><br />A federal magistrate judge has ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Harlem Suárez, the second South Florida Cuban arrested by FBI agents after expressing support for the Islamic State.<br /><br /><b>SAN BERNARDINO ATTACK</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/09/459074323/san-bernardino-attackers-were-radicalized-before-meeting-fbi-director-says?utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=npr&amp;utm_term=nprnews&amp;utm_content=202709">San Bernardino Attackers Were Radicalized Before Meeting, FBI Director Says</a><br />The husband-and-wife team who killed 14 people during a shooting rampage in San Bernardino, Calif., had been radicalized before they "started courting or dating each other online," FBI Director James Comey said on Wednesday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-enrique-marquez-main-mother-speaks-20151210-story.html">San Bernardino shooter used friend to dodge gun check, may have planned larger attack, sources say</a><br />Syed Rizwan Farook asked a friend to buy two rifles used in the attack so he could dodge a federal background check and also may have been planning an even larger assault, according to government sources familiar with the ever-widening investigation.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/11/us/san-bernardino-shooting/index.html">Enrique Marquez said he and Farook built pipe bombs as hobby</a><br />Enrique Marquez, a former neighbor of Farook, told investigators he and his friend previously built pipe bombs, law enforcement officials said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-malik-saudi-arabia-20151211-story.html">Brother of San Bernardino killer Tashfeen Malik says family in Saudi Arabia is devastated</a><br />"We don’t have any idea about what happened over there,” Saad Gulzar Malik, who lives in Riyadh, said in a phone interview Friday. “We are only learning about it from news reports.”<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/urn:publicid:ap.org:e46bb9897f4d4ae5bdf9b3bfa8851ffe">Planned Parenthood suspect: 'I am a warrior for the babies'</a><br />The man accused of killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic stunned a courtroom Wednesday when he declared himself a "warrior for the babies" and said he was guilty and won't go to trial.<br /><br /><a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=62239">Riyadh, Rumeilan, and Damascus: All You Need to Know About Syria’s Opposition Conferences</a><br />It’s conference time in the Syrian opposition. All of a sudden, three rival meetings have kicked off, all claiming to represent the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/article/6696395/2015/11/30/yemen-conflict-saudi-arabia-airstrikes-war-crimes-united-states">With US help, Saudi Arabia is obliterating Yemen</a><br />Airstrikes have been relentless since March, a period now of eight months. They are supposed to be targeting a local rebel group, but appear largely indiscriminate, regularly hitting civilian targets. Thousands of people have been killed. Human rights groups say some of these strikes amount to war crimes.<br /><br /><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-ku-klux-klan-seized-cinema-to-become-a-force-in-america-52030">How the Ku Klux Klan seized cinema to become a force in America</a><br />A century on and the dark days when the Klan recruited millions of members across America to its divisive and racist creed may seem like history, but the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment around the world is a sobering reminder of how the media can be used to spread division in society.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2015/12/state-department-finds-1300-new-records-on-anwar-al-awlaki-216697">State Department belatedly finds 1,300 emails on Anwar Al-Awlaki</a><br />The State Department has belatedly discovered about 1,300 emails relating to deceased Islamic cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki in official accounts belonging to top aides to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/donald-trump-white-supremacists-216620">White supremacist groups see Trump bump</a><br />The Ku Klux Klan is using Donald Trump as a talking point in its outreach efforts. Stormfront, the most prominent American white supremacist website, is upgrading its servers in part to cope with a Trump traffic spike. And former Louisiana Rep. David Duke reports that the businessman has given more Americans cover to speak out loud about white nationalism than at any time since his own political campaigns in the 1990s.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/08/us-muslims-report-more-bias-cases-across-nation/76982412/?hootPostID=705a248cb1ea41500c9a52af3b7dbf45">Muslims report more bias cases across USA</a><br />Anti-Muslim attacks are on the rise since and recent comments by presidential candidate Donald Trump could make the situation worse, Muslim and Arab-American leaders said Tuesday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-december-9-2015-1.3356807/obama-appeals-to-silicon-valley-to-help-prevent-terrorist-attacks-1.3356864">Obama appeals to Silicon Valley to help prevent terrorist attacks</a><br />What might a new Silicon-to-Pentagon type relationship might look like, and would it be likely to protect Americans from further attacks, or further erode Americans' privacy?<br /><br /><b>PODCASTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2015/12/07/jihadology-podcast-americans-in-the-islamic-state/">Jihadology Podcast: Americans in the Islamic State</a><br />Lorenzo Vidino and Seamus Hughes come on the show to talk about their new report ISIS in America: From Retweets to Raqqa. Some of the topics covered include background on the American jihadi scene, the demographics of Americans who’ve traveled to join the Islamic State and the three roles American Islamic State supporters play on social media. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Lorenzo Vidino and Seamus Hughes</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/">Tunisian Jihadism</a><br />Bridget Moreng comes on the show to discuss jihadism in Tunisia. Some of the topics covered include what factors lead to the growth of jihadism after Ben Ali and Tunisian government efforts to combat jihadist groups. <i>By Karl Morand with Bridget Moreng</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theloopcast.com/e/countering-violent-extremism-a-discussion-with-seamus-hughes/">Countering Violent Extremism: a discussion with Seamus Hughes</a><br />Seamus Hughes and Chelsea Daymon discuss all things CVE.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/12/08/458959416/counterterrorism-experts-face-challenges-recognizing-lone-wolf-terrorists?utm_campaign=storyshare&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_medium=social">Counterterrorism Experts Face Challenges Recognizing 'Lone Wolf' Terrorists</a><br />NPR's Audie Cornish interviews John Horgan, a professor at Georgia State University's Global Studies Institute, who studies how ISIS inspires "lone wolf" supporters.<br /><br /><b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2015.1116274">Crossing the Ideological Divide? Egypt's Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood after the Arab Spring</a><br />This article examines the shifts that have occurred within these two movements in Egypt since the Arab Spring. It specifically asks whether approximations between them in terms of strategies of actions have been paralleled by ideological approximations. <i>By Annette Ranko &amp; Justyna Nedza.</i><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><i>Buy the new book </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG" style="font-style: italic;">ISIS: The State of Terror</a><i> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. </i><br /><br /><i>Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, </i><a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH" style="font-style: italic;">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a>.</span><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-90070631710832441322015-12-09T06:02:00.003-08:002015-12-09T06:06:00.875-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 12/7/15. ISIS in America, San Bernardino, Copycats, Sovereign Cop, and More<div><div><b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="https://cchs.gwu.edu/sites/cchs.gwu.edu/files/downloads/ISIS%20in%20America%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf">ISIS IN AMERICA: FROM RETWEETS TO RAQQA</a><br />The report consists of two parts. The first examines all cases of U.S. persons arrested, indicted, or convicted in the United States for ISIS-related activities. This section also looks at the cases of other Americans who, while not in the legal system, are known to have engaged in ISIS-inspired behavior. The second part of the report examines various aspects of the ISIS-related mobilization in America. It concludes with recommendations to combat ISIS recruitment.&nbsp;<i>By Lorenzo Vidino and Seamus Hughes</i>.</div><div><br /></div><b>SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTINGS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/world/middleeast/islamic-state-san-bernardino-massacre.html?smid=tw-share">Islamic State Says ‘Soldiers of Caliphate’ Attacked in San Bernardino</a><br />The Islamic State’s radio station released a statement on Saturday claiming that two of the group’s followers had carried out the shootings that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/12/05/woman-deadly-calif-rampage-had-become-more-devout/vkgXilM3YMPnlm9rSjH9pK/story.html?s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter">Woman in deadly Calif. rampage had become more devout</a><br />FBI officials, family lawyers and others said they know little about the 29-year-old housewife and mother, apart from what came to light on Friday: that Tafsheen Malik had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group on Facebook as she and her American-born husband, Syed Farook, 28, went on the rampage.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/us/politics/california-attack-has-us-rethinking-strategy-on-homegrown-terror.html?ref=us">California Attack Has U.S. Rethinking Strategy on Homegrown Terror</a><br />Swift, ruthless and deadly, the attack appeared to reflect an evolution of the terrorist threat that Mr. Obama and federal officials have long dreaded: homegrown, self-radicalized individuals operating undetected before striking one of many soft targets that can never be fully protected in a country as sprawling as the United States.</div><div><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/us/sisters-of-san-bernardino-shooting-suspect-say-they-saw-no-warning-signs.html?ref=us">Sisters of San Bernardino Shooting Suspect Say They Saw No Warning Signs</a><br />For nearly an hour, Saira Khan and Eba Farook, the two sisters of Syed Rizwan Farook, the man suspected of the mass shooting in nearby San Bernardino, expressed anguish at the tragedy that has engulfed this community. But they said they had seen no warning that Mr. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were preparing for an assault that would leave 14 people dead and 21 injured.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b></div><div><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/12/04/yes-mass-shootings-tend-to-produce-copycats-so-do-terror-attacks/?postshare=6921449284320658&amp;tid=ss_tw-bottom">Yes, mass shootings tend to produce copycats. So do terror attacks.</a><br />Research by Arizona State University mathematics research professor Sherry Towers and colleagues suggests that like suicides and homicides, media coverage of mass shootings and school shootings tend to increase similar incidents in the surrounding community.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/link-to-sovereign-citizen-movement-costly-for-police-officer/1169433">Link to sovereign citizen movement costly for police officer</a><br />Last spring a respected detective for the Sarasota, Fla. police department went to the local courthouse and did something stupid. What he thought he was doing, he has insisted ever since, was making a simple political statement. What he actually was doing was affiliating with an estimated 300,000 disgruntled Americans who believe the government is illegitimate.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/us/robert-dear-planned-parenthood-shooting.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&amp;smid=nytcore-iphone-share">For Robert Dear, Religion and Rage Before Planned Parenthood Attack</a><br />Court documents and interviews with people who knew Mr. Dear well, a picture emerges of an angry and occasionally violent man who seemed deeply disturbed and deeply contradictory: He was a man of religious conviction who sinned openly, a man who craved both extreme solitude and near-constant female company, a man who successfully wooed women but, some of them say, also abused them<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-taliban-idUSKBN0TO0IH20151205?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=worldNews">Taliban releases audio message to show leader alive</a><br />The Taliban released an audio message on Saturday it said was from its leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour to counter widespread reports that he had been wounded or killed in a shootout in Pakistan this week.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/qaeda-seizes-strategic-south-yemen-town-security-officials-081826347.html;_ylt=AwrXnCbXql5WHBIAaSvQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByb2lvbXVuBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--">Qaeda fighters in 'show of force' in south Yemen</a><br />Al-Qaeda fighters drove pro-government forces out of a town in southern Yemen Wednesday in a new show of strength by the jihadists, who have exploited the country's turmoil to expand their territory.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-san-bernardino-mass-shooting-statistics-20151204-story.html">Has the U.S. had 4 mass shootings this year or 353? Estimates vary that much</a><br />Be careful when you hear reports that say how often such shootings happen. They are not well-tracked by federal agencies, and the definition of a “mass shooting” varies so widely among public researchers that the numbers can be confusing.<br /><br /><div><b>ISIS WATCH</b></div><div><br /><a href="http://icsr.info/2015/12/icsr-insight-decline-islamic-state-media-output/">The Decline in Islamic State Media Output</a><br />There was a steady rise in photos from January-March period to the June-August period, with a drop off for every three-month category since.&nbsp;<i>By Aaron Zelin</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/06/warplanes-libya-next-battlefront-isis-nato?CMP=twt_a-world_b-gdnworld">Warplanes in Libyan skies may signal next major battle in fight to contain Islamic State</a><br />Jihadis in Libya are seizing control of greater chunks of the fractured nation’s territory and imposing a rule of terror. As another strategic city, Ajdabiya, comes under Isis attack, military planners across Europe are preparing the way for NATO forces to intervene<br /><br /><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/airstrikes-alone-wont-stop-isis-inside-the-war-on-the-ground#.chG1Yj9Yl3">Inside The War Against Isis</a><br />In the wake of the Paris terror attacks, Western leaders ramped up airstrikes against ISIS. But the real fight is happening on the ground.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/world/asia/leader-of-taliban-splinter-group-allied-with-isis-is-killed.html?partner=rssnyt&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0&amp;referer=http:/ios.feeddler.com/story/0">Leader of Taliban Splinter Group Allied With ISIS Is Killed</a><br />After months of Taliban infighting that has left hundreds dead, the prominent head of a splinter faction allied with the Islamic State has been killed, government officials and Taliban commanders said on Tuesday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-real-value-of-the-isis-antiquities-trade">The Real Value of the ISIS Antiquities Trade</a><br />New findings are shedding light on the ISIS antiquities trade, but they’ve often raised more questions than they’ve answered.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/islamic-states-money-makers-take-a-hit-as-it-loses-territory/2015/12/03/b08910aa-91f6-11e5-befa-99ceebcbb272_story.html">Islamic State’s moneymaking streams take a hit as it loses territory</a><br />By most estimates, the Islamic State is the world’s richest terrorist organization. But it appears to be wrestling with money problems that could affect its ability to wage war while trying to govern millions of people in its self-declared caliphate.<br /><br /><a href="http://time.com/4134249/u-k-syria-isis-airstrikes/">The U.K. Launches Air Strikes Against ISIS in Syria</a><br />British warplanes carried out airstrikes in Syria early Thursday, hours after Parliament voted to authorize air attacks against Islamic State group targets there.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/01/middleeast/lebanon-prisoner-swap-baghdadi-ex-wife/index.html">ISIS chief's ex-wife released in Lebanon-al Nusra prisoner swap</a><br />The Lebanese government on Tuesday released the former wife of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as part of a prisoner swap with an al Qaeda affiliate, a Lebanese security official said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/world/africa/triple-suicide-bombings-at-lake-chad-kill-27.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&amp;smtyp=cur">Chad Suspects Boko Haram in Island Attacks</a><br />A triple suicide bombing at a market on an island in Lake Chad killed at least 15 people and wounded 130 on Saturday, Chad’s government said. A top police official claimed that the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram was responsible.<br /><br /></div><b>PODCAST</b><br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2015/12/01/jihadology-podcast-the-history-legacy-and-relevance-of-algerian-jihadism-today/">Jihadology Podcast: The History, Legacy, and Relevance of Algerian Jihadism Today</a><br />Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck comes on the show to talk about jihadism in Algeria. Topics covered include the background and history of jihadism in Algeria and why there haven’t been many Algerian foreign fighters in Syria. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck</i>.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-18865877983243682962015-11-30T07:08:00.001-08:002015-11-30T07:08:24.188-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 11/30/2015: Defining the Planned Parenthood attack; ISIS, Syria, Sovereigns and More<b>PLANNED PARENTHOOD SHOOTING&nbsp;</b><br /><br />Friday's attack on a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs has reignited a debate about the definition of terrorism. As the suspect's profile is slowly filled out, amid reports of an&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/planned-parenthood-shooting-suspect-made-comment-about-no-more-baby-n470706">anti-abortion statement</a>&nbsp;amid a wider rambling response to questions from authorities, much of the discussion online has focused on the perception that domestic terror suspects, usually white, are more likely to be classified as mentally ill than political.<br /><br />There is merit to this complaint, particularly as it pertains to the Charleston Church shooting earlier this year, which was carried out for the explicit purpose of starting a race war after consuming and being consumed by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/us/dylann-roof-was-in-contact-with-supremacists-officials-say.html">white supremacist ideology</a>. The problem is particularly acute during the "specunalysis" phase of breaking news coverage, in terms of when the word "terrorism" is used and how often, based on the race or religion of the offender.<br /><br />What we know about the Planned Parenthood case is still evolving, but it serves to illustrate the complexities of how terrorism intersects with possible mental illness. However, there is also a growing acknowledgement that mental illness isn't just a factor for white terrorists, with ISIS's recruitment and adoption of attacks by people who are <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/12/23/the-islamic-states-deranged-irregulars-lone-wolf-terrorists-isis/">clearly on the borderline</a>. At the same time, mental illness is not always grounds for dismissing an ideological hook. It is possible to be both mentally ill and a terrorist.<br /><br />There are two separate issues here. The first is whether politicians, the media and society disproportionately focus on mental health explanations for white Christians who kill with political motives in the United States relative to other demographic groups, which I think is a clear trend and a serious problem, although <a href="http://time.com/4128664/mike-huckabee-planned-parenthood-shootings-domestic-terrorism/">some movement</a> can be seen. <br /><br />The second is how we attempt to distinguish between terrorism and mental illness overall, which I think is an equally serious problem that is obscured and complicated by the first. Both of these issues urgently deserve our attention, and we can't tackle one and not the other. Unfortunately, pent-up frustration is filling this discussion with far more heat than light in the wake of this latest attack.<br /><br />Based on what we know so far, which I should stress isn't much, this looks more like a case where the question revolves around mental illness than the domestic terrorism bias. For instance, it doesn't look like the Roof case, where there is no ambiguity about its ideological basis, and the profiles below raise some obvious questions about mental health. This reading may well change in the days to come.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I think it's worth noting that there has been movement on both of these issues over the last year or two. The debate is being aired more often, and while there are still embedded assumptions as events unfold, there is a nascent awareness that is working its way through our public discourse, even if the process is painful and slow.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>-- JMB</i></div><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/us/robert-dear-suspect-in-colorado-killings-preferred-to-be-left-alone.html"></a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/us/robert-dear-suspect-in-colorado-killings-preferred-to-be-left-alone.html">Robert Dear, Suspect in Colorado Killings, ‘Preferred to Be Left Alone’</a><br />Robert L. Dear Jr. was a man who lived off the grid. On this lonely, snow-covered patch of land in a hamlet ringed by the Rocky Mountains, his home was a white trailer, with a forest-green four-wheeler by the front door and a modest black cross painted on one end. As police officers surrounded it on Saturday, looking for clues to what they said had sent its owner on a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood center that left three dead and nine wounded, neighbors said they barely knew him, beyond one man’s memory of his handing out anti-Obama political pamphlets.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/alleged-colorado-gunman-was-adrift-and-alienated/2015/11/28/7cb93b62-95f5-11e5-8aa0-5d0946560a97_story.html?postshare=6371448745214985&amp;tid=ss_tw-bottom">Alleged Colorado gunman was adrift and alienated</a><br />Robert Lewis Dear Jr., 57, the man in custody in connection with Friday’s shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, appears to have been a malcontent who drifted from place to place.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/aliciamelvillesmith/heres-what-we-know-about-planned-parenthood-suspect?utm_term=.xbR3nM1neO#.goj5ZGDZyw">Here’s What We Know About The Suspect In The Planned Parenthood Shooting</a><br />Robert L. Dear, 57, was arrested by police following a shooting at the Colorado Springs clinic where three people, including a police officer, were killed.<br /><div><br /></div><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/fbi-warns-ny-police-anti-islam-arizona-man-article-1.2448001?cid=bitly">FBI warns NY police about anti-Islam Arizona man who may be headed to state to confront Muslim group</a><br />The FBI got involved after a Muslim group based near Albany notified the agency that Jon Ritzheimer, 32, of Phoenix had posted a video on Nov. 18 in which he showed a gun, made profane anti-Obama statements and said he was driving cross-country to confront them, sources and a group spokesman said.<br /><br /><a href="http://police%20arrest%204th%20suspect%20in%20black%20lives%20matter%20shooting%2C%20no%20charges%20yet%20filed/">Police Arrest 4th Suspect In Black Lives Matter Shooting, No Charges Yet Filed</a><br />Police said late Wednesday that they arrested a fourth suspect after a group of white supremacists allegedly opened fire on Black Lives Matter protesters Monday night in Minneapolis. Local prosecutors have until Monday to file charges against the men being held.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.vocativ.com/news/254794/al-qaeda-executes-dozens-of-syrian-soldiers-in-isis-style-video/">Al Qaeda Executes Dozens Of Syrian Soldiers In ISIS-Style Video</a><br />Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, released an ISIS-style execution video on Wednesday, the latest sign of an ongoing rivalry between the terror groups.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/yes-there-are-70000-moderate-opposition-fighters-in-syria-heres-what-we-know-about-them/">Yes, there are 70,000 moderate opposition fighters in Syria. Here’s what we know about them,</a><br />David Cameron told Parliament that there are ‘about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups’ who could help fight Islamic State.&nbsp;<i>By Charles Lister</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theindychannel.com/news/call-6-investigators/sovereign-citizens-want-millions-from-indianapolis#st_refDomain=t.co&amp;st_refQuery=/2awqQ8ySuz">'Sovereign citizens' want millions from Indianapolis</a><br />Brent Allen Swallers says in a lawsuit he has "no obligation from God to obey the wrongdoers' commands." The wrongdoers, he says, are Indianapolis government officials. He wants $1.5 million out of the city treasury as repayment.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/qishloq-ovozi-islamic-movement-uzbekistan-fractured/27395160.html"></a><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/qishloq-ovozi-islamic-movement-uzbekistan-fractured/27395160.html">The Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan Comes Unraveled</a><br />The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) now appears to have fractured into several bands.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/27/world/africa/ap-af-mali-attack.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&amp;smid=nytcore-ipad-share">Mali Arrests 2 Over Attack on Luxury Hotel in Bamako</a><br />Malian special forces have arrested two men over last week's attack on a luxury hotel in the capital, according to a statement distributed Friday morning, as the government provided a breakdown by nationality of the 20 people killed in the attack.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-30/australias-sovereign-citizen-terrorism-threat/6981114">Sovereign citizens: Terrorism assessment warns of rising threat from anti-government extremists</a><br />Anti-government extremists known as "sovereign citizens" have been identified as a potential terrorism threat in Australia by a confidential NSW Police report.<br /><br /><a href="http://fcnp.com/2015/11/23/man-charged-with-using-explosive-device-at-falls-church-mosque/">Man Charged with Using Explosive Device at Falls Church Mosque</a><br />A 27-year-old man of no fixed address was charged with damaging property and using a hoax explosive device at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, a Falls Church, Virginia, mosque, on Thursday, Nov. 19.<br /><br /><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/world/middleeast/isis-grip-on-libyan-city-gives-it-a-fallback-option.html?_r=2&amp;referer=">ISIS’ Grip on Libyan City Gives It a Fallback Option</a><br />When the Libyan arm of the Islamic State first raised the group’s black flag over the coastal city of Surt almost one year ago, it was just a bunch of local militants trying to look tough. Today Surt is an actively managed colony of the central Islamic State, crowded with foreign fighters from around the region, according to residents, local militia leaders and hostages recently released from the city’s main prison.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/world/middleeast/predatory-islamic-state-wrings-money-from-those-it-rules.html?smid=tw-share">Predatory Islamic State Wrings Money From Those It Rules</a><br />Across wide expanses of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State, with the goal of building a credible government, has set up a predatory and violent bureaucracy that wrings every last American dollar, Iraqi dinar and Syrian pound it can from those who live under its control or pass through its territory.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-attacks-plot-was-hatched-in-plain-sight-1448587309">Paris Attacks Plot Was Hatched in Plain Sight</a><br />The ease with which the attackers moved—all while avoiding detection by France’s security apparatus—suggests the challenges in identifying would-be terrorists and preventing further attacks in the fluid, digital and transnational world of today, especially when they are European citizens.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/europe/paris-terror-attacks/index.html?sr=twcnni113015paris-terror-attacks1255PMStoryLink&amp;linkId=19159650">Paris terror attack suspect believed to be in Syria</a><br />French intelligence services believe Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has escaped to Syria, according to a source close to the investigation and a counterterrorism source.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-does-isis-really-want-now">What Does ISIS Really Want Now?</a><br />In the latest issue of Dabiq, ISIS’s on-line magazine, the organization sets forth two principal but contradictory goals, which it labels “options.” <i>By Jessica Stern</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/middleeast/egypt-north-sinai-car-bomb-hotel.html?smid=tw-share">Militants Attack Hotel in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Killing at Least 7</a><br />Islamic State militants attacked a hotel in the northern Sinai Peninsula of Egypt with explosives and gunfire early on Tuesday, killing at least seven people, including a judge, according to security officials, Egyptian state media and a statement by the group.<br /><br /><b>PODCASTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2015/11/23/jihadology-podcast-the-syrian-jihad-a-history/">Jihadology Podcast: The Syrian Jihad: A History</a><br />Charles Lister comes back on the show for an in-depth discussion on jihadism in Syria. <i>By Aaron Zelin with Charles Lister</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/">Understanding the Mali Hotel Attack</a><br />Andrew Lebovich comes on the show to discuss the recent attack in Bamako, the groups involved, the security situation in Mali, and much more. <i>By Karl Morand with Andrew Lebovich</i>.<br /><div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-24236582796930608952015-11-22T10:31:00.003-08:002015-11-22T11:19:45.174-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 11/23/15: ISIS Book Roundup, Paris, Mali and More<b>BOOKS ON ISIS</b><br /><b><br /></b>With ISIS now at the forefront of our national security discussion, people are seeking more information, and many are turning to the bewildering number of books available on the subject. There are several strong entries in the field, but each has its own particular focus. As first drafts of history, no single book is able to encompass the entirety of ISIS, a complicated organization and social movement with many moving parts.<br /><br />Here's a look at a few of the top books on ISIS. The focus discussed here reflects the elements in each book that distinguish it from the others; all five books include some degree of overview of the history and development of ISIS. In an ideal world, you would probably read all of them. The books are listed here alphabetically, by the name of the lead author.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1HgmjdV">The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency</a></b> <br /><i>Charles Lister</i><br />Focus on the complex scope of the Syrian civil war, and its crucial impact on ISIS and al Qaeda, informed by extensive face-to-face interviews with participants.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1Sd0RHb">The ISIS Apocalypse</a></b><br /><i>William McCants</i><br />Focus on ISIS's development from the point of view of jihadist insiders, and ISIS's ideology, including its apocalyptic bent and call to religion.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1Hgmeqt">ISIS: The State of Terror</a></b><br /><i>Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger</i><br />Focus on ISIS's terrorist/extremist component, recruitment, propaganda and social media, psychological warfare, and competition with al Qaeda.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1Sd0Xyy">Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS</a></b><br /><i>Joby Warrick</i> <br />Focus on the rise of ISIS from its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq, and the life of that group's founder, Abu Musab al Zarqawi.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://amzn.to/1Sd0LPN">ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror</a></b><br /><i>Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan</i> <br />Focus on the rise of ISIS as a regional political phenomenon, with a wealth of on-the-ground reporting.<br /><br /><i>-- J.M. Berger</i><br /><b><br /></b><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/world/middleeast/isis-wives-and-enforcers-in-syria-recount-collaboration-anguish-and-escape.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&amp;smid=nytcore-iphone-share">ISIS Women and Enforcers in Syria Recount Collaboration, Anguish and Escape</a><br />Aws, 25, a former resident of Raqqa, Syria, used to be a member of the Khansaa Brigade, the Islamic State's female morality police. Her first husband was a jihadist, and when he died in a suicide operation she reluctantly agreed to marry another fighter.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/inside-the-islamic-states-propaganda-machine/2015/11/20/051e997a-8ce6-11e5-acff-673ae92ddd2b_story.html">Inside the surreal world of the Islamic State’s propaganda machine</a><br />The assignments arrive on slips of paper, each bearing the black flag of the Islamic State, the seal of the terrorist group’s media emir, and the site of that day’s shoot. Sometimes the job was to film prayers at a mosque, or militants exchanging fire. But, inevitably, a slip would come with the coordinates to an unfolding bloodbath.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/20/path-of-french-female-suicide-bomber-showed-little-signs-of-islamic-extremism/?postshare=3501448027243452&amp;tid=ss_tw">The French female extremist’s curious path to Islamist violence</a><br />The story of Hasna Aitboulahcen is filled with jolting plot turns.&nbsp;Fast forward to Wednesday, and the story ends abruptly — in a nondescript apartment building with a slanted shingled roof, surrounded by police officers undertaking an anti-terrorism raid in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis.<br /><br /><a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/69d5418af5d14cfb9d743bef5843cd46">IS group says it has killed Norwegian, Chinese captives</a><br />The Islamic State group said Wednesday that it has killed Norwegian and Chinese captives after earlier demanding ransoms for the two men.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/18/world/europe/paris-attacks-abdelhamid-abaaoud-an-isis-militant-from-belgium-whose-own-family-wanted-him-dead.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0">An ISIS Militant From Belgium Whose Own Family Wanted Him Dead</a><br />When the family of Abdelhamid Abaaoud received word from Syria last fall that he had been killed fighting for the Islamic State, it rejoiced at what it took to be excellent news about a wayward son it had come to despise.&nbsp;He has since been linked to a string of terrorist operations that culminated with Friday’s attacks in Paris.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/17/us-france-shooting-clain-idUSKCN0T61US20151117">Frenchman identified in Islamic State audio claim of Paris attacks</a><br />The voice of a jihadist claiming Islamic State's responsibility for last week's attacks in Paris has been identified as a 36 year-old Frenchmen authorities believe is now in Syria, a source close to the investigation said on Tuesday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/20/us-new-york-security-islamic-state-idUSKCN0T930820151120?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=topNews&amp;utm_source=twitter">New York teen accused of supporting Islamic State to be tried as adult</a><br />A New York teenager charged with conspiring to support Islamic State should be tried as an adult, despite having been only 17 at the time he allegedly committed the crime, a federal judge ruled.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/21/us-france-shooting-costs-idUSKCN0T92LX20151121">Militants may have spent as little as $7,500 on Paris attacks</a><br />The militants who killed 130 people in Paris, triggering waves of air strikes on Syria and security alerts around the world, may have spent as little as around 7,000 euros ($7,500) to stage their attacks.<br /><br /><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/20/politics/paris-attacks-isis-copycat-fears/index.html?eref=edition">Dozens in U.S. monitored after Paris for fear of copycat</a><br />Following the terror attacks in Paris, the FBI is very closely monitoring dozens of people they think pose the highest threat of attempting to carry out a copycat attack in the U.S., according to FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/us/us-investigators-struggle-to-track-homegrown-isis-suspects.html?ref=middleeast">U.S. Investigators Struggle to Track Homegrown ISIS Suspects</a><br />At least three dozen people in the United States suspected of ties to the Islamic State were under heavy electronic or physical surveillance even before the Paris attacks, senior American officials say. But unlike the attackers in France, the officials say, the majority of those under investigation here never traveled to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State or receive training from it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/17/world/turkey-jihadi-john-associate/index.html">Jihadi John associate on his way to Europe was arrested in Turkey</a><br />Aine Lesley Davis was arrested after Turkish intelligence worked with British MI6 to monitor the movements of a messenger linked to Jihadi John inside the Syrian city of Raqqa and received information on Davis' plans.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/11/20/draining-isis-coffers/isis-extortion-and-taxation-are-lucrative-and-hard-to-suppress">ISIS’ Extortion and ‘Taxation’ Are Lucrative and Hard to Suppress</a><br />A great deal has been written about the oil resources that are supposedly ISIS' principal source of revenue, although some reports suggest that estimates of $1.5 million in daily oil income may be wildly exaggerated. But what has often been ignored is ISIS’ less conspicuous and potentially superior capacity to raise funds through a complex and tightly controlled system of "taxes" within its claimed "Caliphate."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/the-islamic-state-paradox-213368">The Islamic State Paradox</a><br />The Islamic State is partly a totalitarian state and partly a transnational terrorist organization. As a state it can be attacked and defeated, at least temporarily. And yet, paradoxically, the more we in the West attack the state, the more its appeal as a terrorist organization will grow among those who see the West as an enemy.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/armed-protesters-set-up-outside-islamic-center-of-irving.html/">Armed protesters gather outside Islamic Center of Irving</a><br />About a dozen protesters -- most carrying long guns, some masked and one with his mother -- lined up outside an Irving mosque on Saturday. They had come from as far away as Hunt County to the green-domed complex. To "Stop the Islamization of America," as the mother's hand-drawn sign urged.<br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/11/20/deadly-hotel-attack-underscores-mali-worsening-security-situation.html">Deadly hotel attack underscores Mali's worsening security situation</a><br />Since France’s military intervention in January 2013 to halt the southward movement of a coalition of armed groups who controlled much of the country’s north, the security situation has remained precarious. And in some ways, it has gotten even worse.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/world/africa/assault-in-mali-hotel-sets-back-fight-on-extremism.html?smid=tw-share">Hotel Attack in Mali Reverses Gains in Fight Against Extremism</a><br />The terrifying attack on the Radisson Blu here in Mali’s capital was a strike on this nation’s fragile efforts to restore peace after years of fighting. But here, as in Paris, the same fundamental question applies: How does a democratic society protect itself from a few determined extremists who can upend an entire nation with a single devastating strike?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/20/us-lebanon-security-bombings-idUSKCN0T915720151120?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=worldNews">Lebanon security forces make arrests, seize explosives after Beirut bombs</a><br />Lebanese security forces carried out a series of arrests overnight, security sources said on Friday, as part of a crackdown launched after twin suicide bomb attacks killed 44 people in Beirut last week.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/19/us-bosnia-attacks-idUSKCN0T735520151119">Sarajevo gunman commits suicide after killing two soldiers</a><br />A gunman who shot and killed two Bosnian soldiers and wounded another committed suicide on Wednesday after police surrounded his house on the outskirts of Sarajevo, authorities said.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/21/us-bosnia-blast-idUSKCN0TA0AQ20151121">Explosive device goes off near Bosnian army chief's car, no one hurt</a><br />An explosive device went off in a tunnel just before an approaching vehicle carrying the Bosnian army's chief of staff but nobody was hurt, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/11/daily-chart-12?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/dc/theplagueofglobalterrorism">The plague of global terrorism</a><br />Last year 32,700 people were killed in attacks worldwide, nearly twice as many as in 2013.<br /><br /><b> PODCASTS</b><br /><b><br /></b><a href="http://www.onthemedia.org/story/on-the-media-2015-11-20/">On the Media: The Language of Terror</a><br />Amid the emotion, fear, and confusion following an attack, a Breaking News Consumer's Handbook for the coverage of terrorism. Plus, the semantics surrounding acts of war and terror, and a look back at lessons learned, and forgotten, in the years since 9/11.<br /><br /><b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-polisci-030810-110815">The Consequences of the Internet for Politics</a><br />Political scientists are only now beginning to come to terms with the importance of the Internet to politics.<span style="font-style: italic;"><i>&nbsp;By&nbsp;</i></span><i>Henry Farrell.</i><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-16101248567182042032015-11-16T08:11:00.001-08:002015-11-16T08:11:13.468-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 11/16/15, Paris Attacks and More <b>PARIS ATTACKS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/live/paris-attacks-live-updates/?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=b-lede-package-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news">Latest updates via The New York Times</a><br /><br />From the New York Times:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">-- A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html">manhunt is underway for Salah Abdeslam</a>, who is believed to have helped carry out the attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people.<br />-- Two more attackers have been identified, according to the Paris prosecutor, François Molins.<br />-- One, a suicide bomber who tried to enter the Stade de France, came to Europe through Greece on a Syrian passport last month in the name of Ahmad al-Mohammad. It was not clear whether that passport was in fact the attacker’s.<br />-- The other is Samy Amimour, 28, who lived in a Paris suburb. He was one of the bombers at the Bataclan concert hall and had previously been charged with terrorist conspiracy.<br />--&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html">France conducted airstrikes</a> against Islamic State targets in Syria.</blockquote><a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/how-we-underestimated-isil-213362">The Capabilities Fallacy&nbsp;</a><br />Over the course of the past year, many analysts and policymakers have struggled to pin down the terrorist capabilities of the Islamic State. As an insurgency, it had proved resilient. As a terrorist actor, projecting a threat outside its borders, it was unproven.<br /><br />Several phases of denial have played out. Initially, some experts speculated that ISIL had no particular aspirations to execute spectacular attacks outside its borders. Then, some argued that Al Qaeda was more sophisticated than ISIL, and therefore posed the greater threat. Finally, the focus shifted to so-called lone wolf attacks, an area in which everyone eventually could agree ISIL excels.<br /><br />All of these hedged assertions looked reasonable when compared with vague and irresponsible alarms from some quarters about the existential threat ISIL allegedly posed to the American homeland and the West in general. But in a few short weeks, ISIL has flexed its terrorist muscles in an unambiguous manner.&nbsp;<i>By J.M. Berger</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://jihadology.net/2015/11/16/jihadology-podcast-emergency-pod-background-on-the-paris-attacks/">Jihadology Podcast Emergency Pod: Background on The Paris Attacks</a><br />In light of the recent attacks in Paris, Timothy Holman comes on the show to discuss the history of French and Belgian jihadi networks.&nbsp;<i>By Aaron Zelin with Timothy Holman</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://warontherocks.com/2015/11/what-paris-taught-us-about-the-islamic-state/">What Paris taught us about the Islamic State</a><br />Many forces currently conspire to generate the Islamic State’s current wave of terrorism, and we should expect more violence. <i>By Clint Watts</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/europe/paris-terror-attacks-response-islamic-state.html?smid=tw-share">Paris Terror Attacks May Prompt More Aggressive U.S. Strategy on ISIS</a><br />The seemingly synchronized assaults that turned Paris into a war zone on Friday came just days after a bombing targeted a Shiite district of Beirut controlled by Iran’s ally, Hezbollah, and a Russian passenger jet was downed over Egypt. For President Obama and American allies, the attacks are almost certain to force a reassessment of the threat and may prompt a more aggressive strategy against the Islamic State<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/europe/paris-terror-attack.html">Police Raids in France and Belgium Seek Paris Attack Suspects</a><br />Heavily armed police officers wearing balaclavas descended on a Brussels neighborhood on Monday as the authorities intensified their manhunt for Salah Abdeslam, who is believed to have helped carry out the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday. Meanwhile, the authorities in France announced that they had conducted sweeping police raids around the country overnight, detaining 104 people.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/opinion/what-will-come-after-paris.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&amp;smtyp=cur&amp;_r=0">Editorial:&nbsp;What Will Come After Paris</a><br />The challenge for threatened countries is huge. The sort of attacks the Islamic State has launched are hard to anticipate or prevent, yet in Europe each one intensifies the raucous xenophobia of far-right nationalists ever ready to demonize Muslim citizens, immigrants and refugees, and shut down Europe’s open internal borders.<br /><br /><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://voxpol.eu/wilayat-twitter-and-the-battle-against-islamic-states-twitter-jihad/">Wilayat Twitter and the battle against Islamic State's Twitter jihad</a><br />In the past two years, the so-called Islamic State (IS) has made Twitter its own, many of its supporters even describing the social media forum as an IS ‘wilayat’ or ‘province.'&nbsp;<i>By&nbsp;Elizabeth Pearson</i>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/15/confessions-of-an-isis-spy.html">Confessions of an ISIS Spy</a><br />He joined the self-proclaimed Islamic State, trained jihadist infantry, and groomed foreign operatives—including a pair of Frenchmen. And now, Abu Khaled says he is ready to talk.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/world/middleeast/lebanon-explosions-southern-beirut-hezbollah.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&amp;smtyp=cur">ISIS Claims Responsibility for Blasts That Killed Dozens in Beirut</a><br />&nbsp;A fiery double suicide bombing terrorized a mostly Shiite residential area of southern Beirut on Thursday, ripping through a busy shopping district at rush hour. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 43 people had been killed and more than 200 wounded in the worst attack to strike the city in years.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/world/middleeast/sinjar-iraq-kurds-isis.html?mabReward=CTM&amp;moduleDetail=recommendations-1&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=Europe&amp;region=Footer&amp;module=WhatsNext&amp;version=WhatsNext&amp;contentID=WhatsNext&amp;src=recg&amp;pgtype=article">Sinjar Victory Bolsters Kurds, but Could Further Alienate U.S. From Iraq</a><br />Now, with Kurdish forces backed by American air power driving jihadist fighters out of Sinjar on Friday, the United States-led coalition appears to have a new and important victory against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. But it may come with a cost: the further undermining of the Iraqi government’s authority, and intensified concern about the Kurds’ desire for independence.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/10/obama-administration-maintains-hope-for-sunni-awak/">Obama’s ‘Sunni Awakening’ strategy flops as Iran’s Shias gain upper hand</a><br />Critics say the strategy so far hasn’t come close to replicating the success of the first awakening, which roughly coincided with President George W. Bush’s “surge” in early 2007.<br /><br /><a href="http://fox8.com/2015/11/12/akron-man-accused-of-supporting-isil-threatening-u-s-military-members/">Akron man accused of supporting ISIL, threatening U.S. military members</a><br />An Akron man was arrested Thursday morning after federal authorities say he posted messages supporting a terrorist organization on social media.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/13/middleeast/jihadi-john-airstrike-target/">U.S. 'reasonably certain' drone strike killed ISIS mouthpiece 'Jihadi John'</a><br />U.S. Army Col. Steven Warren said Friday that a drone strike the previous night killed everyone in the targeted vehicle, with Mohammed Emwazi -- a.k.a. "Jihadi John" -- likely among them.<br /><br /><b>TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/world/middleeast/on-the-road-in-syria-struggle-all-around.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&amp;smtyp=cur">On the Road in Syria, Struggle All Around</a><br />The police are gone, and militias have flourished, snarling traffic with checkpoints and covering lampposts with pictures of dead fighters. Shuttered gas stations stand near shacks where fuel is sold in plastic jugs. And abandoned government offices house ad hoc administrations that struggle to keep the lights on. <i>By Ben Hubbard.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/world/europe/european-raids-terrorism.html?smid=tw-share">Coordinated European Raids Target Ring Supporting Terrorist Groups</a><br />The authorities arrested 15 people in four European countries on Thursday, breaking up what officials called a terrorist network that sought to overthrow the Kurdish government in northern Iraq and to recruit militants to fight in Iraq and Syria.<br /><br /><a href="http://wtvr.com/2015/11/12/doyle-chaney-in-court/">Men suspected in white supremacist plot deemed danger to the community</a><br />Two of the three men accused in a plot to bomb black churches and synagogues, rob an armored car and kill a jewelry dealer were denied bond Thursday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/11/us-kansas-sentencing-idUSKCN0SZ1HP20151111#k1Ee0JvCZSr2orVK.99">Kansas white supremacist sentenced to death for three murders</a><br />A judge on Tuesday issued the death penalty for the white supremacist convicted of shooting to death three people at two Jewish centers in Kansas last year. Johnson County District Court Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan sentenced Frazier Glenn Cross, 74, to die by lethal injection.<br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/12/us-facebook-data-government-iduskcn0t02ey20151112?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amp;utm_content=5644170a04d301645742cabf&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Facebook reports spike in government requests for data</a><br />Facebook Inc (FB.O) said in a report on Wednesday that government demands for its user data surged in the first half of 2015, taking a trend that began at least two years ago when the company started revealing such requests to new heights.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/breakaway-faction-challenges-new-taliban-leadership/27354221.html">Breakaway Faction Challenges New Taliban Leadership</a><br />In the week following its announcement that it was splitting from the Taliban, the High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has borrowed from the militant group's formal name, chosen a leader, and rallied support in Afghanistan's west.&nbsp;Now it is directly taking on Taliban fighters in Zabul Province, in the south of the country, in what are seen as the first major fighting between rival Taliban factions.<br /><br /><a href="http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/12/computer-intrusion-inflicts-massive-damage-on-german-steel-factory/">Computer intrusion inflicts massive damage on German steel factory</a><br />A German steel factory suffered significant damage after attackers gained unauthorized access to computerized systems that help control its blast furnace.&nbsp;The incident is notable because it's one of the few computer intrusions to cause physical damage.<br /><br /><b>RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19434472.2015.1100648">Reintegrating jihadist extremists: evaluating a Dutch initiative, 2013–2014</a><br />In 2012, the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism and the Dutch Probation Service launched a reintegration project for offenders on probation or parole who were (suspected to be) involved in jihadist extremism or terrorism. The initiative's primary goal was to reduce the chance of recidivism among this target group. <i>By&nbsp;Bart Schuurman and Edwin Bakker</i>.<br /><br /><b>PODCASTS</b><br /><br /><a href="http://linkis.com/jihadology.net/2015/YHycY">Islamist Militancy in Bangladesh: Then &amp; Now</a><br />C. Christine Fair comes on the show to talk about Islamism in Bangladesh. Topics include the history of Islamism in Bangladesh and its intersection with mainstream politics and what we know about recent Islamic State attacks in Bangladesh. <i>By Aaron Zelin with C. Christine Fair.</i><br /><i><br /></i><a href="http://middleeastweek.org/">ISIS Oil Operations</a><br />Matthew Reed comes back on the show to discuss ISIS oil operations. Topics include how analysts track ISIS oil operations, how much oil ISIS is producing, and what it would take to eliminate ISIS' ability to profit from oil production. <i>By Karl Morand with Matthew Reed</i>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br />Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></span> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9059086381162172476.post-38792063496908756382015-11-09T05:51:00.002-08:002015-11-09T14:52:35.435-08:00INTELWIRE Weekly Brief, 11/9/15: CVE Process, Assessing Foreign Fighter Counts, ISIS Allies Slip Away, and More<b>NEW FROM J.M. BERGER </b><br /><br /><div><a href="http://voxpol.eu/step-by-step-online-cve/">Step-by-step Online CVE</a><br />The world continues to deal with the offline consequences of how ISIS works online, hunting among the fringes of society for those rare individuals who can be <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/12/23/the-islamic-states-deranged-irregulars-lone-wolf-terrorists-isis/">convinced to act on its behalf</a>. Its success comes in part from volume -- social media makes it possible to <a href="http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/444/html">sift efficiently</a> through more potential recruits than ever before. But while the process ISIS employs to achieve its goals contributes to its relative success, it also opens windows for disruption.<br /><b><br />RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS</b></div><div><br /><a href="http://icct.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ICCT-Schmid-Foreign-Terrorist-Fighter-Estimates-Conceptual-and-Data-Issues-October20152.pdf">Foreign (Terrorist) Fighter Estimates: Conceptual and Data Issues</a><br />This Policy Brief - a short version of a larger Research Paper to be released by ICCT in late 2015 - focuses on the phenomenon of foreign (terrorist) fighters (FTFs) as it relates to Syria and Iraq. It concentrates on recruits to jihad and the astonishing growth in numbers from less than 1,000 in 2011 to more than 3,500 in 2012, 8,500+ in 2013, 18,000+ in 2014 to more than 25,000 by fall 2015. By October 2015, nearly 30,000 militants from more than 100 countries had become foreign fighters with the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) in Syria and Iraq and other militant groups. By Alex P. Schmid.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09546553.2015.1087399">“New terrorism” = higher brutality? An empirical test of the “brutalization thesis”</a><br />This article focuses on the so-called “brutalization” of terrorism. The brutalization thesis as part of the larger theoretical concept of “new terrorism” argues that “new terrorism” is more brutal than “old terrorism.” Many scholars claim that the 9/11 attacks mark the beginning of a new era of terrorism that has lifted international as well as domestic terrorism to a new level of violent brutality. Others argue that this process had already started in the early 1990s.By Sebastian Jäckle and Marcel Baumann.</div><div><b><br /></b><b>ISIS WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/isis-brooklyn-uzbeks.html?mid=twitter-share-di">ISIS at the Gyro King</a><br />When two young men were arrested en route to Syria, the Uzbeks of Brooklyn felt upset, maligned, and only a little sympathetic. By Mark Jacobson.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/world/middleeast/as-us-escalates-air-war-on-isis-allies-slip-away.html?smid=tw-share">As U.S. Escalates Air War on ISIS, Allies Slip Away</a><br />As the United States prepares to intensify airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, the Arab allies who with great fanfare sent warplanes on the initial missions there a year ago have largely vanished from the campaign.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2015/11/islamic-state-isil-taliban-afghanistan-151101074041755.html">ISIL and the Taliban</a><br />Raising its black flag over the rugged mountainous regions of Afghanistan, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has emerged as a new threat to the war-ravaged country as it battles the Taliban for supremacy. By Najibullah Quraishi and Jamie Doran.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/world/middleeast/russian-plane-crash-egypt.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&amp;smtyp=cur">F.B.I. to Help Russia Investigate Plane Crash in Egypt</a><br />The F.B.I. has agreed to help the Russian government with its investigation into the deadly crash of a Russian charter plane in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, senior American officials said on Saturday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fpri.org/geopoliticus/2015/11/us-troops-syria-quick-assessment-us-strategy-combat-islamic-state-one-year?fb_action_ids=564857776998742&amp;fb_action_types=og.likes&amp;fb_ref=.VjpCcnkkvZo.like">U.S. Troops in Syria: A Quick Assessment Of The U.S. Strategy To Combat The Islamic State</a><br />It’s been nearly a year since the U.S. convened its “Counter ISIL Coalition” and in short, when all was said and done, more has been said than done. By Clint Watts.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/confusion-reigns-at-egyptian-airport-amid-british-evacuation/2015/11/06/6cb177c0-840c-11e5-8bd2-680fff868306_story.html?tid=sm_tw">Russia halts Egypt flights amid widening probes into Sinai crash</a><br />Reversing its earlier position, the Kremlin on Friday announced that it would suspend flights to Egypt in a growing consensus with Western officials that a bomb may have caused a Russian passenger jet to crash over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last weekend.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11976042/France-to-authorise-military-intervention-against-Isil-on-home-soil.html">France to authorise 'military intervention against Isil' on home soil</a><br />French prime minister could push through new rules to authorise "army intervention in France against Isil" by early next year, say reports.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-cut-cash-to-iraq-on-iran-isis-fears-1446526799">U.S. Cut Cash to Iraq on Iran, ISIS Fears</a><br />The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department temporarily shut off the flow of billions of dollars to Iraq’s central bank this summer as concerns mounted that the currency was ending up at Iranian banks and possibly being funneled to Islamic State militants.<br /><br /><b> TERROR WATCH</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/06/anonymous-ku-klux-klan-name-leak">Anonymous leaks identities of 350 alleged Ku Klux Klan members</a><br />List of names and social media accounts mentioned alleged FBI informants and those who already publicly identify as members of white supremacist group.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/11/03/what-happens-when-a-dox-incorrectly-identifies-you-as-a-member-of-the-kkk/">What happens when an online ‘leak’ says you’re a Ku Klux Klan member</a><br />Although Anonymous has often said that it believes doxxing represents a powerful tool for transparency in the name of the greater good, the vigilante activists don’t always get their information right (the same can be said, often, of the Internet shame cycle in general), and mistakes that can lead to nightmares for those who are incorrectly identified.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/09/two-americans-killed-at-police-training-centre-in-jordan">Two Americans and South African killed at police training centre in Jordan</a><br />Jordanian police officer kills three people and injures four others in shooting spree on outskirts of Amman.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/11/06/world/americas/06reuters-usa-mexico-beating.html?smid=tw-share">Boston Men Accused of Hate Crimes; Police Say They Cited Trump</a><br />Two Boston brothers accused of urinating on and beating a homeless Mexican man have been charged with hate crimes after being quoted by police as saying, "Donald Trump was right, all these illegals need to be deported."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/nov/09/yemen-the-children-have-a-game-called-airstrike-in-which-they-fall-to-the-ground">Yemen: 'The children have a game called airstrike in which they fall to the ground'</a><br />MSF emergency coordinator Karline Kleijer reports on three weeks in Taiz, a city on the frontline of the seven-month-long conflict.<br /><br /><i> Buy the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062395548/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0062395548&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=nabobsnet-20&amp;linkId=5L5A7V5ESBJGYELG">ISIS: The State of Terror</a> by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. <br /><br /> Buy J.M. Berger's seminal book on American jihadists, <a href="http://amzn.to/ahwBqH">Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam</a></i></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/press.html">Media contact for this post</a> | <a href="http://intelwire.egoplex.com/sourcebooks.html">INTELWIRE Sourcebooks for Journalists</a> | <a href="http://multifacetedmedia.com/">(C) 2010, Mulitfaceted Media Group</a></p></div>staff_02http://www.blogger.com/profile/12158077328302887557noreply@blogger.com